The Echo Prism
by White-Silver Fire
Summary: 5 years after Samus' mission on Aether. She's been feeling a strange sensation, drawing her to an asteroid belt at the edge of space. But when she goes to investigate, she finds herself thrust into the middle of something much darker.
1. Enterlude

_**A/N:** I have an unhealthy fascination with Easter eggs, hidden themes, and inside jokes. For example, each chapter title thus far is a reference to popular music in some way or another, whether it be a song name, band name, etc. and is loosely related to the basic idea of the chapter. The name for this chapter implies that this is the prologue chapter, and comes from the 2nd track of "Sam's Town" by 'The Killers'. Perhaps I'll name the final chapter "Exitlude"...  
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_If you have a guess as to how the chapter title refers popular music or its relevance to the chapter's theme, please post your thoughts/impressions in a review, as I would love to hear them. ^_^  
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A myriad of raindrops poured atop a vast stronghold, dancing above the unlit torches, filling them to the brim and overflowing them, as the sun began to set beyond the mountain peaks. The guards stationed above the gates were constantly reminded of their presence, as each drop poured upon them like insects crawling down their face. Each breath they breathed was savored as if it would be their last. Every now and again, they would drop their heads under the weight of the water, but would strenuously raise them back up. Inside was no different, as the ominous shadow of doom hung upon everyone present.

Pacifica Casull stumbled across the darkened mounds of rubble and rummage, desperately forcing her way up the stairs inside. The weight of the raindrops added greatly to her difficulty, but nonetheless, she at last made it to the main entrance. As she made her way beneath the stone overhang at the top of the steps, she collapsed first to her knees, then to her side.

She wore a long red dress with a green blouse at the top. It was also covered in remarkable golden embroidery designs across the front. She had long blond hair down to her shoulders, curling mostly at the bangs. She was young; no more than 16 years of age.

While she quickly tried to warm herself by the fire one of the few lit torches, she turned her head left toward the sounds of running steps. There were three, maybe four sets of steps coming.

"Raquel... Shannon..." She whispered under her breath, curling up her body next to the fire. One of them came over to her with a warm blanket, covered her with it and picked her up. They began to say something to each other, but she could not hear them. A soft smile issued forth from her, and then all went black.

"_Pa..f..a?_" A familiar voice ushered Pacifica back to consciousness. "You gave us quite a scare, there." The voice consoled her. She awoke upon a small cot made of hay, surrounded by a large, dimly lit room with eight flickering torches, two on each wall. Next to the cot were two simple wooden chairs, one of them empty. On the other one was seated a tall young man around the age of twenty dressed in a light suit of blue and black armor with a dark cape buttoned at the neck that bore a black emblem on the shoulders, with long black hair tied at the neck and a heavy sword attached at the belt. His name was Shannon Casull, Pacifica's older brother.

"Sh...Shannon?" She struggled to ask, straining herself to sit up against the wall behind her bedding.

"Yes." The young man chuckled to himself.

"It is... good to see you, brother." The young girl smiled, being greatly relieved at seeing a familiar face. "Tell me, how long was I asleep?"

"Close to two hours." He answered, his expression quickly changing. "Now tell me something: What are you doing up here? I told you to stay below in the underground chamber!" Shannon questioned her sternly.

"Why? Because I'm not going to sit in that dank, dark holding chamber waiting for you to get killed! This is my home too, and I am going to defend it like it's my home!" She growled, throwing off the blanket and trying to stand up, but stumbled into his lap.

"I can understand wanting to defend your country, but if all of us die, then there will be no one left to rule Linevan! Everyone else in line for the throne is dead. I need to keep you alive at any cost. So please, go back to where it is safe." Shannon pleaded, but knew that his sister would be too stubborn to listen.

At the beginning of the war nearly sixteen years ago, Shannon and Pacifica's father always made sure Shannon and his twin sister Raquel was aware of their role in the family: to protect and guard his sister Pacifica at all costs. While they were growing up, Shannon never forgot his promise to his father, and has lived his whole life according to this promise, even now.

Pacifica's face slowly washed back to its original soft and gentle look. "Brother, I know of the promise you made to father, and I have nothing but love and respect for father's wishes, but that was sixteen years ago. Even you cannot protect me from every single danger. Besides, it isn't as if hiding below is going to do any good. Should we fail to end the war today, there would be no where left for me to run. I would rather die defending my people than become a cowardly ruler in their eyes."

Shannon was reluctant to adhere to her words, but made sense of them and understood that she was right. His thought was shattered by the sudden clang of the torches closest to the doors striking the ground. Knowing that others would soon follow, Shannon carried his sister away from the dry bedding, still clutching onto his long-remembered promise.

"It is beginning..." His voice cracked with a hint of fear.

"Please brother... let go." She urged him.

He quickly came to his senses and put Pacifica back down, but soon realized what she was really referring to.

"...You're right. Come on." He ordered her to follow, heading out of the small room and to go down the corridor to the armory. "I'm not quite sure why, but Raquel had these waiting for you. I guess she knew that you would want to be fighting with us." He struggled a smile, presenting her with armor and weapons. The armor was an elaborate gold with red sleeves; it was quite light, but extremely durable. Accompanying it was a flexible wooden bow and a quiver filled with arrows and a simple steel sword.

Raquel Casull was the oldest member of the Casull family, and was very light-hearted, almost bordering clumsy; she was most well known for always wearing a smile on her face, and everyone felt much easier with her around. Extremely proficient in every known form of magic, she was an excellent fighter, although she usually refused to use all of her abilities unless the situation demanded so.

"Do not worry. I will be quick." She humbly stated, but she could not hide the excitement in her voice from Shannon.

"I will be outside the door, making sure that have your privacy." He smiled lightly, but kept a heavy heart, pulling the door closed rather softly on his way out.

Without a moment's hesitation, she immediately donned her armor and weapons, and within minutes was prepared for battle. Upon leaving the armory, she was quite surprised to see Raquel guarding the door rather than her brother. She was nearly a head taller than Pacifica, and she had long black hair. For some reason, she always had a way of reassuring everyone about themselves, and was always smiling. She wore a set of armor much like her brothers: blue and white with a dark cape with the family crest on the shoulders that buttoned on the neck. Behind her stood Raquel's white horse, Rose, who had been with the family since she was a child, saddled and prepared for battle. Despite Rose's age, she had not lost any of her strength or luster.

"Where... where is Shannon?" Pacifica nervously asked.

"Don't worry." Raquel smiled reassuringly. "Shannon's presence was required elsewhere, and he asked me to take his place until you came out."

"Thank goodness... for a minute, I thought he-" In a moment, another tremor rang through the floors, jarring even more torches from the walls to the ground. Pacifica faltered for an instant, then fell down. Raquel caught her before she hit the ground and helped her back to her feet. More followed each one quicker than the last.

Pacifica was speechless, quickly pulling herself up and braced herself against a wall. Raquel, however, knew all too well what was happening.

"Up you go!" Raquel ordered, lifting Pacifica up onto Rose's back, with Raquel climbing up behind her.

"Raquel, wait! What is happening?"

"War, Pacifica." Raquel desperately tried to reassure her, but could only gather the smallest sliver of hope. All she could muster was a faint but gentle smile, but even that made the two of them a little happier. They immediately rode for the war room where Shannon was, and came in during his speech to the soldiers.

"We few are what are left of our families... our friends... our kingdom. I will not lie to you: we may not survive the night. In war, only the strong willed can survive. Only the most determined can endure. You few here are the strong willed and the most determined that will face Reignlif and will end this, for good or bad! Let this be the last battle in this accursed war, and let those we wish to protect see the shine of the coming dawn!" He had just barely finished speaking when three more tremors shook the foundation. "...our destiny is drawing near. Go out... and don't look back." He said sullenly, dismissing the troops.

Pacifica was at a complete loss for words.

"Shannon... even for you, that was rather discouraging." Raquel chimed, her usual smile utterly erased from her expression.

"I do not wish to give them false hope." Shannon explained.

"You did not give them any hope at all!" Pacifica blurted out. "Those soldiers are giving their life for those they love, because they had hope! But after hearing your 'motivational speech', they may as well give themselves up, since there apparently IS no hope!"

Shannon said nothing. Raquel noticed that he was struggling with something inside of him, but could not begin to guess what. Suddenly, his eyes closed and his head dropped. "I can't take father's place in his army. I will never be half the man or the king that he was. And I know that I will never earn the same level of respect from these men that our father earned, so what point is there to try and inspire them?" Raquel and Pacifica knelt down beside him and hugged him, as they both began to cry.

"Do not worry brother. Just stay by me and everything will be fine." Pacifica smiled, passing from her to Raquel, and even Shannon.

"Heh...you're right." He managed himself back to his feet. "Come on..." He proudly drew his sword. "We have a war to finish."


	2. Spaceman

_My name is Samus Aran. I lived on the Galactic Federation Colony world K-2L. When I was three years old, K-2L was invaded by Space Pirates and was all but completely annihilated. I, along with my pet Ponchi, were the only remaining survivors. Luckily, a pair of Chozo who had earlier been to my planet (one of whom had befriended me) picked up the distress signal from the colony, and took me with them to their home on planet Zebes. They selflessly raised and loved me as their own, infusing me with their blood for me to gain their natural powers and resistance to the planet's environments._

_Eventually, I left Zebes of my own accord with a power suit which the Chozo had built for me (which was in many ways very similar to their own body structure) to seek military training in the Galactic Federation. However, my military career didn't last long after the death of my commanding officer, Adam Malkovich (which I have named the computer program in my ship after), and I soon left to become a bounty hunter (although not a greedy or vicious one). As I sought to make a name for myself, the Space Pirates attacked Zebes seeking more information about the Metroids they had recently taken from Federation custody, captured and reprogrammed the planetary control, Mother Brain, and killed the entire Chozo population from the planet._

_Hearing of this, I was sent in by the Federation as a last resort to finish off the Pirates and stop their production of Metroids. I succeeded, defeating Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain in the process, but as I escaped the time bomb detonated by the Mother Brain in her final throes, I was shot down by a fleet of Pirates. In the struggle, I lost my Power Suit and was forced to fight my way to my old home in Chozodia. There, I was tested by an ancient Chozo shrine, and given the type II suit upgrade. I then defeated the cyborg creature Mecha-Ridley and escaped the Pirates' Mothership using one of their small fighters._

_After this mission, I became regarded as a first-rate bounty hunter by the Galactic Federation and became much more widely known throughout the galaxy, which would eventually lead to my participation in future missions. One of which would send me to the surface of the planet Aether, a world split into light and dark versions, where I was thrown into the middle of a war between the Luminoth and the dark invaders known as the Ing. That was around five years ago... _

_During all my time on Aether, I always felt... strange somehow. Like a constant tug, but in no particular direction. I couldn't explain it then, and I can't explain it now. However, once I left Aether, the feeling went away. Since it had gone, I didn't think much of it after that. But now... I can feel it again, but stronger. The same tugging; but now..._

**********

"Anything yet Adam?" Samus asked the program which she set to auto pilot, obviously becoming impatient. She strode around the interior of the ship, waiting for any type of anomaly to show on the ship's radar.

"Not yet. Why is this so important to you anyway, Lady?" Adam inquired. "You've been through stranger experiences." It debated.

"Not like this. In all my years as a bounty hunter, I have never felt anything like what I felt on Aether... or what I'm feeling now." She conceded. "But why am I feeling it again? Aether is on the other side of the galaxy, so why now? That's what I am trying to find out Adam. Does that answer your question?" Samus snapped at the program.

"Well, yes and no. I could be wrong, but it looks and sounds to me like this is more than just about curiosity. Why else are you so eager to come out here?"

She was silent. She dropped her head against her arm, leaning against the window. "... I don't know. I don't know why I'm coming out all this way to find the cause of a 'feeling'..." She expressed out loud, not trying to explain to Adam, but rather, to herself. "What do you think Adam? Why am I suddenly feeling this way, like I need to find the source of this 'feeling'? Maybe I'm just over thinking this whole thing... maybe-"

"Sorry to interrupt you talking to yourself, but I've found something you might be interested in seeing." It sarcastically noted.

"About time. What have you got for me?" She eagerly asked.

"Well, it's a..." Adam hesitated. As if he couldn't believe it himself.

"It's a what?!"

"An asteroid belt with a life signature... a human life signature." Adam confessed, baffled just as much as Samus was on hearing this.

"Out this far in space? We're nearly at the end of the galaxy as it is. This part of space isn't even mapped by the Galactic Federation... how could anything survive out here?" Samus mused, realizing that only with the help of her Power Suit could any human survive out here. "How far is this life-form Adam?"

"One thousand miles and closing. We're coming up to the asteroid belt, so you'll have to either shoot them and risk killing whatever's out there, or get out right now and hop your way over."

"Well... we can't risk destroying it, whatever it is. At least not without knowing what it is... so option one is out. Looks like I'm walking. How much longer?" She inquired, going to the back of the ship.

"It's going to be too dangerous to head directly into the belt, so I'll let you out when we reach it which will be in about... thirty seconds." Adam pulled the ship up against the first wall of asteroids, and then brought it to a complete halt. "We're here. You're going to want to go about fifty feet in, then head toward the right." He directed her. "Whatever is out there doesn't seem to be moving, so it either doesn't see us, or doesn't care."

Samus opened the hatch at the top of the ship and slowly floated outside. Once the hatch closed, she activated the com-link from her helmet to Adam. Once the link was established, she slowly made her way onto the first asteroid. Now that she had a firm footing outside the ship, she slowly activated the booster that was attached to the back of her suit. Quietly making her way through the belt with the directions Adam had supplied her with, she came upon the position Adam had described; nothing.

"Wait... what? Adam, there's nothing here. Does it still appear on the ship's radar?" Samus shouted through the com-link.

"That's strange... according to your ship's sensors, you're practically directly on top of it... it sho-" Adam cut out.

"Adam? Adam?! What happened, Ad-" Samus stopped suddenly, feeling a sharp pain in her right ear. "Agh! What the-?!" She agonized; the com-link shorted on Adam's end, but for some reason sent a high voltage charge of electricity over to her earpiece, quickly shocking her. She scrambled to deactivate the link (which was usually done with the helmet removed), but after much effort, finally got it away from her. "What... what happened?" She asked herself, clamping the side of her helmet with her hand. She suddenly felt a pressure press against her throat.

"_I_ happened." A man standing behind her answered, holding a long, multi-colored knife against her neck. Immediately, Samus noticed something extremely unusual (besides the fact that it was rainbow colored): The colors were moving up along the knife, in accordance to the color spectrum, constantly changing hues. She turned her gaze toward him; he was barely visible, even with her suit's thermal visor. "What business could someone like you have out here?"

"I'm... not sure." She hesitated, gasping for oxygen. "Some years ago, I felt like I was being pulled some place. I could never quite pinpoint the location, but I kept looking. Then, all of a sudden, it just stopped. I never thought I'd feel it again, but I was wrong. About a week ago, I felt it again. But this time, it was much stronger, so I'm going to find out what it is and why it's pulling me."

"...If there is anything in this life that you cherish at all, you will immediately leave the way you came, and will not come back."

Samus slowly stood up and looked fully upon him. He was covered from head-to-toe in black, including a black cloak and mask. She clenched her fist. "I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers! What's going on? Who are you?!" She demanded, almost raising her arm cannon up to him.

"You may call me 'Descent'." The man stated bluntly. "As for the rest, none of that concerns you." He turned around and began walking away.

"Oh, no you don't..." She blurted, firing a warning shot at the asteroid underneath him, rupturing it and sending pieces flying. Descent jumped back before the blast hit, then sliced off the end of Samus' cannon with his blade, rendering it useless. "What?!" She could hardly believe it: not only was he fast enough to dodge her shot and the shrapnel of the asteroid, but was also quick enough to land a blow before she could react. "Gah!" She winced in pain, as she felt a cold point pierce her stomach. Looking down, she saw it was one of Descent's knives. She tried to move, but his knife had pinned her against an asteroid. She became increasingly aware of how dire the situation was. In about seven minutes, she would run out of oxygen, if the wound didn't kill her first.

"I'm afraid you leave me no choice..." He said, holding his one remaining knife up to her neck again. "You should have stayed away from here..." He began to swing his knife, but soon noticed Samus' attention was focused not on him, but rather on a small cylinder about twenty feet behind, prompting Descent to also turn his attention to it.

Samus examined it closely, and felt a stunning chill down her spine. "That's a-"

"-Bomb!" Descent cried, as both of them disappeared into a blinding flash of light.

**********

At length, Samus slowly regained consciousness. She quickly realized that her oxygen supply was nearly depleted, leaving her gasping for air. As she glanced around the debris left over at the asteroid belt by the explosion, she caught a glance of Descent floating toward her. She moved over to him, hoping to help him. She had hardly gotten to him that she discovered her ship waiting around fifty yards away, and carried both herself and Descent inside.

"Gah...!" She fell on the floor, clenching her stomach.

"You okay?" Adam inquired, filling the cabin with a new supply of oxygen.

Samus slowly managed to get off the ground and marched over to the computer. "Are you insane, Adam?! The M5 has potentially enough power to wipe out half a planet, and you just launch it right next to me?!" She fumed, throwing her helmet at the computer program.

"Don't worry... your suit is more than capable enough to withstand a large portion of it. Besides, there wasn't anything else to do. After the comm. broke down, I homed in on your suit's frequency. I realized that whoever was out there had you cornered, so I took the next step. Unfortunately, the only deployable weapon we had aboard was, of course, the M5."

"Ordinarily, yes, my suit would have been able to handle it. But..." She paused, laying Descent down on the floor. "His knife was able to cut through my gun and pierce the armor itself. Whatever it was made of, I've never felt anything like it." She thought. "I need to get him to the medical bed..." She groaned, clamping her hands on her stomach. "... and I need to tend to this wound. We're heading back for Galactic Federation HQ." She ordered Adam, carrying Descent toward the back of the ship.

"Fair enough; so, did you find what you were looking for?" He inquired.

"..." She quickly realized that the 'tugging' was gone, and glanced down at Descent. "I don't know..."


	3. Dream Theater

_I heard your voice  
in the wind today.  
I paused a moment,  
but it just went away.  
It's was just a memory,  
a memory,  
just a lost,  
soul-less  
memory...  
to me._

_  
I hear distant sounds  
from a black hole cave.  
It's hard to remember  
if they're sounds I should save.  
I'm barely listening,  
listening,  
I'm not even  
listening  
for you._

_I can't hear the music  
when I see your face.  
Just meaningless murmurs  
from a long forgotten place.  
I'm only listening  
to echoes...  
echoes...  
echoes..._

_You're just a memory,  
but I can't stop  
listening to echoes._

"...Nya!" Ephraim awoke with a start. He wiped his forehead of the sweat, and laid back down sleep, but his mind was too agitated to rest. He quickly dressed, his hands shaking, to him for unknown reasons. He splashed some water on his face and set out on the balcony. It was a full moon that night.

Ephraim was the Prince of the land of Renais, and also its ruler, along with his twin sister Eirika. Their most striking feature, it has been said, is their light blue hair, both of which they had. Eirika's, however, was much longer than Ephraim's. They had recently put an end to the war for the Sacred Stones. During this war, he met many new faces and friends. But also lost many of them. After this, they both hoped that they could perhaps live in peace for a while. However, this was two months ago, and much has not changed. There are still many battles being fought, most likely due to the cause that many of them are in more remote locations, and news of the war's end has not reached them yet.

"Ephraim?" Eirika called, approaching the balcony which spanned across the side of the wall, and was accessible from both their rooms. She had on a white silk robe, and was still a little asleep, but forced herself to stay awake.

"....." He hesitated to answer.

"Brother, what's wrong? This is the third night in a row you have had trouble sleeping." She reminded him.

".....I'm sorry I woke you." He told her, obviously avoiding the question.

"Forget about me. What about you? Why have you been so nervous lately?" Eirika pressed.

"I've been having..... these dreams. Or maybe they weren't dreams, but visions. It's... complicated. You probably don't want to listen to me go on about them."

Eirika walked over to his side, placing her right hand across his shoulders. "You're wrong, brother." She smiled softly, placing her left hand on his other shoulder.

Ephraim waited a moment, then returned the gesture. "I see a magnificent city; much like Renais, but... more peaceful and fruitful than has been here in a century; the rising sun, igniting the colors of the fields and the skies. Everything is in harmony with each other; until the sun begins to set. Then the sky darkens, and clouds cast an impenetrable shadow over the kingdom. And then..." He turned away for a moment. "...it rains blood like acid." Eirika was taken aback, almost gasping, but managed to control herself. "Everything that was there... the skies, the fields, the hills, the city and all the people... it all melts into blood running over the ground. And at the end of it all, a young man is on his knees at the center of all the blood. Then I see a burst of light streaming toward Renais. But when it hits the ground... I wake up."

"Who is this man?" Eirika pondered.

Ephraim turned his head toward her. "I don't know. The funny thing is, I know the man's name in my dream. But when I wake up, I forget it all." He laughed for a moment, but it quickly dissipated. "But whatever is going on with me, I intend to find out what it is." He marched back toward his room, but Eirika stopped him and begged him not to go until at least morning. "Very well. Tomorrow morning."

**Morning**

It was early. No more than four hours after Ephraim's discussion with Eirika, but he was already dressed and preparing for his journey. The sun had just risen over the mountain peaks, but had not pierced the early mists, so it would require at least another hour before it was safe for riding. Ephraim, however, would not wait, and saddled a horse with provisions and weapons and rode off toward the gate. He halted to the sound of another horse galloping up behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he breathed a quick sigh of relief. He immediately recognized him. It was Ephraim's military general, and also a very good friend of both him and Eirika. "Seth? What are you doing here?" He reared his horse around. He was on horseback, dressed in his traditional uniform of blue with gold lining.

"Her highness requested that I accompany you on your journey. I believe that she is quite worried about you."

"_She'll never stop worrying, will she?_" He chuckled to himself. "Did she say why she was worried?" He asked Seth.

"Sadly, no. All she said was that you were, at best, in a fragile state of mind and requested it as a personal favor, rather than an order. Since she considered it a personal favor, I could not refuse."

"Hmph... I suppose she's right." He smiled. "Well then, let's get going then." He rode off into the mist. "Our best chance of figuring out what's going on is to drop in on an old friend of ours, who I hope is still living outside Renais." His face flickered with a glimmer of hope.

"I believe I know who you're talking about, and I just spoke with him recently. He is still living in the watch tower on the border. Am I correct?"

"Yes."

Eirika sighed as she watched them ride off from the balcony outside their rooms, letting her head fall down, but slowly raised it back up. Footsteps approaching broke the silence in the room. "Your highness?" The maid started, a touch of concern was present in her voice.

"Hm? Oh, I'm sorry. I was just about to leave." Her attention was obviously not in her words, as the maid was here to help her get dressed for the day.

"Is something the matter, your highness? You are usually much more cheerful, but I have not seen you smile once at all in the last two days."

"Oh, forgive me. It's just... I'm worried about Ephraim. In all our years, I have never seen him so... afraid. Even during the war, he was never acting like this, and every day it becomes worse. Whatever he has gone to look for, I'm not sure if I want him to find it or not. If he does find what he's looking for, it could be extremely dangerous. But... if he doesn't... he may drive himself mad for a lost purpose. But is it alright for me to wish that my brother not find what he wants, in order to keep him safe, or should I want him to succeed, but endanger himself as a result?" Eirika had completely forgotten about the young lady in the room, and was simply talking to herself.

"Hm... well, whatever happens his highness, I am certain it is for the best." She giggled, taking Eirika's clothes over to her.

"Yes... I suppose you're right." She fashioned a faint smile, which gradually grew larger.

"There. I have been waiting two days for that smile!" The maid laughed.

"Ephraim... whatever you're doing... be careful."


	4. Longview

The raindrops poured down through the decimated roof of the Temple of Time; the endless myriad of drops beating down upon the crushed stained glass windows which once decorated the eastern wall, which once shown the story of Din, the goddess of fire, Farore, the goddess of wind, and Nayru, the goddess of love, creating the land of Hyrule and gave their blessings to all of its inhabitants, which was made into the Triforce. The story also goes on to tell about a young boy dressed in green who saved Hyrule from an evil sorcerer named Ganon, who wrought a horrific wave of destruction to the people. The people prayed to the goddess to help deliver them from this evil, and when all hope was lost, the young boy in green came and used the power of the Triforce to save them.

Princess Zelda was entrapped in thought, as she entered the Temple of Time, built to honor the Sage of Time, Rauru. All that could be seen of her was a large grey cloak, used as shelter from the rain. The indentations in the tile below were quickly gathering water, making the entire floor slippery. She slowly made her way to the alter at the back of the temple, being careful not to slip and fall from one of the puddles. All along the way, she kept stroking her hand across the marble textures, touching especially the crack down the middle of the alter. She suddenly pulled her hand away, noticing that she had gotten a splinter of the marble caught in her finger.

After ten minutes of nostalgic thoughts, she decided to leave the devastated building.

"The tide has shifted..." A voice sounded out from the curtain of rain.

Zelda's eyes darted across the room. "Who's there?!" She quickly noticed a man dressed in a black cloak with a hood over his head covering his face standing in front of the immense door at the back of the room touching the alter.

"What has been... shall never be obtained again..."

"What are you talking about?" She inquired, slowly moving toward him.

"Tell me... do you know what has happened here?"

"Of course I know what has happened. An earthquake completely destroyed this temple, and with half of Hyrule along with it..." She spoke with a sorrowful tone.

"But that is not all, is it? Death Mountain also erupted, even though it has not done so in nearly five hundred years; a non-stop torrent of pouring rain; driving gales of wind; and your lands have been invaded and ravaged by new and mysterious black enemies..."

"If any of this has a point, get to it!"

"The elements are afraid... very soon, these things shall be the least of your troubles. And this door..." He turned, obviously referred to the door behind the alter which held the Triforce and the Master Sword. "…shall be sprouting anew with a nightmare unlike any you have ever seen before. And this time... it won't be stopped."

"What do you mean, 'this time'? Has it happened before? "She sprinted toward him, but she passed through him and he vanished out of sight. She suddenly realized that not a single drop of rain had hit him, even though he was in full view from the sky. "What... was that?"

"Zelda? What are you doing here?" The voice of a young blond-haired man asked from the entrance of the temple. He was dressed in a light weight green tunic and cap with a lightweight white shirt and pants beneath and wore a standard issue Hylian sword and shield on his back.

"Oh, Link, it's you. I'm not sure what I'm doing here. Perhaps I am just trying to restore the temple to what it was in my mind. Or maybe I am just being sentimental. What do you think, Link?" She asked him without even turning around.

"I think you're just standing in the rain hoping to restore something that will never again be restored. Now why don't you get out of there and get inside the castle?"

"I... I can't. I need to speak with the other six Sages."

"The other six? What could be so terrible that we need all seven Sages? And where are you even going to be able to find them all? Rauru left once this temple was destroyed, and we have no idea of the condition the other temples are in, and we haven't heard from any of the others in quite a while. For all we know, the Sages have left the mortal world completely."

"That is why we are going to other temples, one by one to see. If we can find at least one of the Sages, I am sure that they can help us find the others." She turned around bearing a gentle smile. "And besides, even if they _did_ leave..." She giggled to herself. "...I'll find out on the way."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean '_I'll_ find out on the way"? You can't mean that you're going by yourself, not with everything that's happened here lately. It's way too dangerous to leave by yourself. But I guess that means that I'm going too, huh?"

"I guess you are." She let out a loud whistle. In a few seconds, a beautiful brown horse came galloping up behind Link.

"Hey Epona, since when do you start listening to Zelda's whistles?" Link laughed guiding her over to Zelda. "Up you go..." He grunted while helping her up to Epona's back and quickly jumped up behind her. "Come on Epona... up to the castle!" He spurred her on up the hill toward Hyrule Castle. "What do we need to get for the trip?"

"Let's see... we'll need an extra horse, plenty of food, a map to each of the temples, and probably some extra weapons and I think we'll be all set."

"Wait, why would we need extra weapons? I thought you used Magic." Link asked Zelda.

"I know. They're for you."

"What? For me? Why in the world would I need more weapons? You don't think I could handle it?!"

"Calm down for a minute and think. In the last few days, we've been under siege, we have had record breaking rain, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and lord knows what else. If we're up against all of this, I would bet that we may lose or break a couple swords along the way." Zelda thought.

"Well, if that's the case, then I'm going to need something a little stronger than a Hylian sword." A mischievous smile slowly crept onto his mouth. In moments, they were already packed and heading back south toward Hyrule Field. Suddenly, Link abruptly turned Epona and head west back toward the Temple of Time.

"What are we doing back here, Link?" Zelda inquired.

"I'm getting something a little stronger than a Hylian sword." He chuckled, referring to the Master Sword. The Master Sword was a magical sword blessed by the three goddesses with the power to banish evil, which he had put to good use years before. Pressing against the door at the back of the temple behind the alter which housed the Master Sword, but the door refused to move. "What...?" He questioned himself, pushing against it even harder. "What's going on? Why won't it open?!"

Zelda then remembered what the man she had met earlier had said to her. "Wait, Link-!" She called, but her voice was dubbed over by a thundering crack directly above them. A bolt of lightning struck the ground, jarring a precarious pillar down on top of Princess Zelda, pinning her to the ground unconscious.

"Zelda!" Link tried with all his effort to move the pillar, but to no avail. At last, he tied a rope to Epona and slowly began walking her away which finally began to move the heavy debris. Once it was safely off of her, he tried with all his ability to revive her, but could not. "Come on, Zelda... if you're not here, then no one will be able to talk to Rauru..." He said light heartedly to himself. He finally checked her pulse: Nothing. "No..." He whispered. "No, no, no..." He kept repeating to himself, crying over her body.

**********

Zelda's eyes flickered, slightly at first, then the rest of her body followed suit. She pressed against the back of her head. "Ow... my head..." She complained, straining to sit up. She looked around. To her astonishment, she was in the middle of a lush forest, much like what she pictured Kakori Forest to look like from Link's detailed description of it. There rain had stopped, and the sun was nearly blinding. "What? What happened?" She pondered, using a low tree branch to help herself up. "Where am I?"

"Why, you are in the Spirit World, of course." A deep booming voice laughed behind her.

"Who-?" She spun around and nearly fell backwards on seeing who the man was. "Rauru...?" She gasped, throwing her hood back from her head. "What is going on here Rauru? What happened to you and the other Sages? Why am I in the Spirit World? What...-"

"Ah, you have many questions, and we will try our best to answer them all; in due time, that is." He laughed.

"In due time?!" She stormed over to him, her patience obviously lost. "No, I have waited long enough. I want some answers, _now_!"

"...Very well."


	5. The Sounds Of Silence

A tear rolled down Princess Peach's cheek, her eye lids wavering heavily and clouded over. She turned away from the sight of a coffin being lowered into a plot dug inside the castle garden; her eyes closed quickly, releasing a stream of tears down her face and walked away, slowly at first, but began to quicken her pace. Once she was out of sight of the burial, she began crying openly. Her eyes began glancing around the garden, trying to take in all the beauty that could be obtained; but the darkness of the day provided nothing of comfort and only added to her sorrow. Noticing a shadow creeping up behind her, she quickly blotted her eyes and turned to around. She was silently relived to see a familiar face in the midst of everything. He was around a head shorter than her and wore a red hat with blue overalls and had a bushy black mustache.

"What's wrong, Princess? Not a fan of wakes?" The man inquired, raising an umbrella above her head.

"Oh, Mario!" She acted surprised. "No- nothing is wrong." She turned away and regained her composure. "Why do you ask?" She turned back toward him, and immediately saw that he didn't believe a word of what she had said. "I..." She sighed and finally confessed to what she was thinking of. "...there's something wrong with the world, Mario."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it! Constant rain... natural disasters... dead bodies appearing left and right... there is something dreadfully wrong, but there is no explanation I can come up with to explain it. The world just seems... darker than it once was. Less bright and forgiving than it used to be."

"I know. I've been feeling it for the last week or so, but I haven't been able to put my finger on what exactly feels wrong. I already spoke to Toadsworth about it, but he thinks it's just our imaginations. He says that we've been at peace for so long, all of the bad is finally coming up with one quick gust!" He laughed.

"He can make all the jokes he wants, but whatever is wrong, it is definitely serious; and it is definitely real." A hint of fear crackled in her voice. She was in deep thought for a moment, but quickly came out of it. "Toad!" She called out across the garden; a vague echo repeated itself.

"Hm..." Mario pondered. "Echoes..."

A quick pattern of steps sounded against the set stones. They began coming quicker, and louder. In a few seconds, a short boy in a blue vest and spotted hat came up to where Mario and Peach were sitting. "Yes, your highness?" He addressed.

"I'm heading out for Sarasaland. Please make preparations for transportation and a small but capable group of soldiers for the journey."

"Yes, your highness!" He scurried off toward the outer hall of the castle just east of where they were sitting.

"Sarasaland?" Mario questioned.

"Yes. I need to speak with Princess Daisy. Whatever is going on, it will no doubt concern her too. Besides, it will be nice to see Luigi again." Her smile alone made the day seem brighter.

"Yes... it will..." He said out loud, but directed at himself.

"... Mario? What's wrong?"

He snapped back to reality. "Hm? Oh, it's... nothing."

The sound of a series of several footsteps broke down their conversation, and in a minute halted. "Your highness, your highness!" Toad began. "Luigi and Princess Daisy of Sarasaland!" He announced, stepping aside, allowing two people into the garden. Daisy wore a bright yellow and green dress with lovely brown hair, carrying Luigi's right arm of the other across her neck.

"Oh my..." She fell backward at the sight and began to cry again: Luigi, battered and torn and had to be supported by Daisy.

"Luigi!" Mario cried out, rushing over to him while Daisy set him on the ground. "Wha... what happened to him?" He asked Daisy. She turned away and said nothing. "What happened to him?!" Mario raged.

Turning back around, Daisy woefully explained. "Three days ago, Sarasaland was attacked." She closed her eyes for a moment, then began again. "Creatures in white attacked Sarasaland. We tried all we could to protect the castle, but it was no use. We held them off as best we could, but whatever they were, we had never seen anything like them before. And there was no way to hurt them. And, against my will, the Captain of the Guard ordered us to leave and let my army hold off their advance so I could leave alive."

"And you came here to ask for reinforcements, didn't you?" Peach hypothesized.

"I had no intention of leaving them all to die, so I came to the Mushroom Kingdom to ask your help." Daisy continued.

"We'll be happy to help." She struggled to smile. "Toad, prepare-"

"No." Mario stated bluntly.

"What?" Daisy gasped.

"Mario...?"

"If your army couldn't defeat them, then there is no point in having us to fight them. Whatever they were or are, sending another army to go against them would be suicide. It will be a futile battle, and would lose much more than just the battle. If we go, the Mushroom Kingdom will fall as well. Our best chance is for you to take refuge here, Daisy, and pray that they don't come to our doorstep."

Both Peach and Daisy thought about these words. As much as it were to their disliking, Mario's words rang true. "But... if this is true, than... then all hope is lost..." They both worried.

"Good."

Peach and Daisy could hardly believe their ears. "What are you saying, Mario?" They were both eager to know.

"Like a wise old man once said, hope is only a false evil meant to distract you from reality." He retorted. "Our chances are best if we stay. If we see them marching against us, then we will decide what to do then. But our most important concern is Luigi. Toad, get him to a bed inside the castle, and see that he remains comfortable. I'll help you" Mario ordered.

"Um... yes sir!" It was obvious that Toad was equally worried about Mario's attitude as Peach and Daisy were, but said nothing about it and helped Mario carry Luigi inside.

Once the two of them were out of earshot, Peach and Daisy immediately began discussing what had happened. "What in the world was that?" Daisy asked herself.

"I don't know; but, Luigi is Mario's brother. Maybe he is just angry and upset about the whole thing." Peach guessed.

"Well, I suppose you could be right. But still..."

The hours passed slowly, seemingly without end. The rain had stopped long before, but everyone's mood made it feel like a downpour. It was decided between the two rulers that Daisy would hole up at the Mushroom Kingdom until the entire matter was settled. Princess Peach also ordered an increase in guards on the edge of the city and to fire a flare if any signs of mysterious enemies were seen.

**********

Mario spent the entire time sitting at Luigi's bedside at the castle hospital, never leaving his side. He was aware that someone was approaching, but made no acknowledgement of it. "Mario?" Princess Daisy asked, walking into the small room; he said nothing. "Mario, I know you're upset, and this would probably be the worst time to say this, but I you're letting this interfere with your personal judgment, and I... I am deeply distressed to tell you that... I think it would best if you left." She told him.

At hearing this, he became enraged. "What?! You expect me to leave while my own brother lies down to die?!" He immediately stood against her.

"Listen to yourself! You're becoming completely out of control! If we are attacked by those same enemies that attacked Luigi and I, you may go up against them to try and take revenge and end up just like Luigi." She tried to explain, but her words did little good. "Mario, I am only doing this for the good of all of us. But in a situation like this, I know you will not leave here of your own free will. So I am afraid that I must... banish you from the Mushroom Kingdom." She motioned for guards to come into the room. "These men will escort you out of the city; we have made preparations for you just outside of the border, so you should be well taken care of until we get this whole mess straightened out. I have already spoken to Princess Peach about it, and we both agree this is the best solution."

Mario's expression plummeted at hearing this. He clenched his fist tighter and tighter until fire began to emit from his hands. Daisy saw this and took an extra precautionary measure. "Toad!" She called out. Suddenly, Toads came rushing through the door with a small dart gun in his hand and fired directly at Mario.

"Ah-!" Mario grunted, slowly pulling the dart out of his shoulder. No sooner had he removed it that he was shot again. He realized what was happening, and quickly surrounded himself with a ring of fire, preventing any more shots, gasping for air. But the damage had been done. In a few moments, the contents of the dart began to take effect, bringing Mario to his knees in defeat.

The fire spread almost instantaneously; soon, the castle was aglow with flame. "Miss Daisy-!" One of them called.

"Relax. We have done what we came to do." She began to laugh. "Leave the fire to grow. And let the Mario Brothers stay and be consumed by it. It's only fitting that the sons of fire meet their end by the flame of their own rage." She turned toward the door and walked out.


	6. The Great Escape

Samus stood over the man who called himself 'Descent' as he lay in a Galactic Federation Hospital bed. Samus and Descent had arrived three days earlier, and his condition had not changed: he still was not breathing any of the supplied oxygen, but his pulse and vital signs indicated that his lungs were still transporting oxygen to his body. The Galactic Federation ER staff had tried everything they could to figure out this strange enigma, but could not definitely come up with anything and had decided to let him rest and watch for any usual changes in his vital signs. However, he was still in all of his clothes, because the doctors could find no way to remove them. Even though they seemed to be made of a common cotton and nylon, they could not be removed and weighed almost six hundred pounds.

Samus was restless, and decided to spend the last few days monitoring Descent. After hours of pacing around the room, her eyes caught a glimpse of something: a possible flicker of his right index finger. She immediately rushed over to him and watched closely; nothing. She continued to watch for several more minutes, but all in vain. "What am I doing?" She sighed to herself, pacing around the room. "This man tried to kill me, doesn't tell me why, and here I am hoping that he's alive. And then what if he is? Is he going to try and kill me again?" She kept asking herself. By now, the question had become almost routine. "It would probably be better he _were _dead. At least then I wouldn't have to worry about anything..."

"Unfortunately..." A voice grunting in pain from behind told her. "You're not that lucky." He pointed his knife toward her, but was still far enough away to let Samus fight or run.

"...Descent?" She asked him. "How are you even still alive?! Your vital signs and pulse all say that you're dead, so... why aren't you?" She calmly asked him, not even attempting to fight him.

Though his mask was still covering his face, Samus could tell that he was dwelling heavily on something inside of his mind. His hand began to waver, until he threw his knife down and turned away. "...I need your ship."

Samus was very surprised at his statement. "My ship?" She questioned. She slowly approached him and tried to lay her hand on his right shoulder, but he quickly threw it aside and turned to face her again.

"Did you miss what I said?! I need your ship _NOW_!" He ordered her; it was not a favor anymore, but more like a ransom request. "Do you ha-" He fell to the ground in pain, clutching his left side. Samus ran over to him but again he refused any help.

"You're hurt! You need to stay here and rest!" She told him, pushing a small square button next to the door.

"What... are you doing?" He breathed heavily, struggling to stand up.

"Ringing for a doctor. You need to be taken care of."

"No... doctors..." He refused, nearly falling down again. Samus helped him up, then started walking back.

"Look at you! You can't even stand! You need immediate medical attent-"

"No... doctors...!" He threw his blade at the wall next to her, missing her face by a fraction of an inch. She immediately fell back in shock, but was even more shocked that when she looked up, the knife was gone.

Both their attention was diverted to the door when a doctor wearing a traditional white lab coat came running through the door. He had with him a small black bag, most likely containing standard equipment for examination. He was followed closely behind by two nurses carrying tin trays, also holding examination equipment, probably injections. "What's going on-?" The doctor asked. Descent immediately dashed toward him, knife in hand, and throwing it through his left shoulder, pinning it against the well. "Gah!" The man agonized, keeping constant pressure on the wound.

"Come on!" Descent said, yanking Samus by the arm, dashing toward the door.

"What did you just do?!" Samus demanded, trying to keep up with Descent.

"I told you not to call anyone. Besides, he's a doctor. He'll know how to heal that wound." He said, almost jokingly, dragging Samus up and down through halls and corridors.

"Was... was that a joke?" She asked rhetorically, finally yanking her arm free. "Because I'm not laughing! I was worried about you at first, but now you've become too dangerous; I'm sorry." She armed a small pistol that she had strapped to her thigh. "I'm sorry but... if you do not surrender, I'm afraid I'll have to bring you down myself."

"...Idiot." The doors in the halls began to close, quickly cutting them off from any path to escape.

"What?" Samus's hand began to falter, then refocused on the target.

"You really think a handgun is going to stop me? You know nothing about me."

"That bomb a few days back stopped you-!"

"Yes, a bomb. Not a gun, a bomb! An M5, to be exact; launched by that idiot of a computer program you have uploaded to your ship. A simple handgun can't stop me, and neither can you. Just accept it."

"Why you arrogant...!" She straightened her hand fired a shot directly at his heart, piercing it.

"Hk!" He grabbed his chest, leaning against the wall, quickly gasping for air.

Samus struggled in her mind if that was the right thing to do. But even though she fought with herself inside, her gun refused to falter and held its position.

"...Idiot." Descent stood up, the wound from the shot completely healed. "I told you a gun couldn't stop me..." He staggered over to her.

A fire grew in Samus' eyes. Realizing that any weapon with less power than a nuclear explosion would not be enough to stop him, she tried the only option left: hand to hand combat. She threw the gun toward him to distract him and charged in head-on. The gun did nothing more than annoy him, but the quick barrage of repeated hits knocked him to the ground.

"Oof!" He gasped for air, clawing around for something to help him to his feet.

This unexpected sight caused Samus to momentarily halt her attack; which was all Descent needed. He quickly spun his right leg around, knocking Samus to the side then pinning her neck against the wall behind them. "You've lost." He said almost mockingly, but his attention was diverted to a steady beat approaching them.

Both of them turned their heads to the sound of the doors reopening again and a legion of Galactic Federation soldiers storming into the halls. Samus knew most of them, and also how well trained they were, but had her doubts about their being able to stop this mysterious man. "Drop her!" The head guard ordered him at gun point. "Drop her, or I'll drop you!"

"Heh..." He turned toward Samus. "You won't want to see this..." He to apply pressure until she finally passed out. He gently laid Samus down against the wall, then turned to his opponents. "Come on then."

**********

Samus awoke staring at a dark ceiling. It was so dark that, at first, she thought her eyes might still be closed, but her eyes slowly began to adjust. She tried to arise, but dropped back down due to a sharp pain in her head. She rolled her eyes back and forth, trying to figure out where she was. In a minute, the pain decreased enough for her to rise off of the small bed she was on. After a closer examination, she arrived at her answer: "The ship!" She felt around for a doorknob slowly, as to not trip over anything. After much trial and error, she finally located the door; all was quiet, and Descent was at the controls. "What's going on?! What happened?" She wondered.

"You mean after I knocked you unconscious and the security guards tried to stop me? I killed them. After that, finding your ship was easy."

"You... killed them?! There were at least ten guards, all trained by the Galactic Federation Academy; that's where I was trained! And just take ten guards out, just like that?!" She snapped her fingers.

"Relax, they're probably not dead, but you think you could have done any better? Fine. Let's find out later. But right now, I have more important things to attend to."

Samus' head dropped between her hands, becoming extremely frustrated with him. "Alright..." She started. "...let's try this another way. Why, exactly do you need my ship?" She thought a different approach might coax out his motive.

"I need to catch something."

"I see... and what do you need to catch?"

"A meteor you blew out from the Asteroid Belt."

"Why? What's wrong with it?" She wondered.

"In it."

"What?"

"The problem is _in_ the asteroid."

"Alright, what's in it?"

He turned away. "The Echo Prism."


	7. Liquid Tension Experiment

"Gah!" Ephraim awoke with a start. "...the same dream again..." He sighed, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He looked up at the starry sky and became filled with wonder and awe in its majestic beauty, and wondered how anything so terrible could possibly come from such a peaceful sight.

It had been four days since he and Seth left Renais, and it was becoming increasingly apparent to Ephraim that even if they did arrive at the border, that whatever advice he may have to offer may come too late. Ephraim knew that whatever was approaching was approaching fast; it would only be a matter of time.

Ephraim could wait no longer. If there was any chance of evading this crisis, it was quickly slipping away. Every night, he jerked awake, sweating and shivering. Each night, the dream went on a little bit longer, but it still made no sense to him. Slowly, nothing began to make sense, from the great vastness of space to the meaningless every day chores.

Seth had been noticing this gradually happening, but made no visible attempt to remedy it; rather, he kept thinking about what was going on around them.

Seth awoke much more peacefully than Ephraim. Even though the sun was nowhere in sight, Seth knew it was already morning. He looked around for Ephraim, but found no sign of him. Looking closer, he realized that all of Ephraim's weapons and horse were gone too. "He left on his own..." He chuckled to himself, realizing that leaving on his own was the logical end to Ephraim's increasingly unusual behavior. Unfortunately, he remembered what Eirika had told him: _"I'm worried about him, Seth. Please promise me that you will stay with him and make sure he does not do anything too... rash."_

"Well, I promised Princess Eirika, so I guess that means that I have a long day ahead of me." He quickly surveyed the surrounding ground for any signs of which direction he may have gone; however, due to the lack of sunlight available in the area, haste was no longer an option.

They made camp in the middle of a very lush, grassy, hilly plain surrounded on all sides by Weeping Willow trees. During the day, it was the spitting image of what most would call untouched and undisturbed paradise. However, at night, the circle of trees and hills trapped the mind in a prison, with no way in, and no way out. It hardly came as a surprise to Seth and Ephraim had chosen the site, due to how eccentric he had become lately, but made no effort to change his mind.

Each area took several minutes to completely and accurately probe. But after nearly half an hour of combing through all manner of dirt and grass, finally success. A series of worn clumps of grass every few feet gave Seth the direction he needed to begin his pursuit.

**********

"Aaah!" Eirika jerked awake. After what seemed like an eternity, she began to breathe again; heavily at first, then gradually beginning to slow down. Her heartbeat would follow suit. After wiping the perspiration off her forehead and face, she gently laid her head back down to rest. No sooner had she finally managed to calm herself down, that the doorknob to her room shifted and turned. She tried with all her person not to turn her gaze toward it, but still pulled the blanket up to her face, as if to shield herself from something.

"Princess?" A gentle voice echoed through the room.

Eirika slowly lowered the covers from her face, and was extremely relieved to see it was her personal handmaid, Sara. She had just turned fifteen years old, and was nearly a head shorter than Eirika. Sara's light brown hair was fairly long, coming down to the top of her shoulders, but not as long as Eirika's, and always wore a beautiful white dress with green stripes criss-crossing on front and back of the blouse (which had eventually become her official uniform, since everyone in the castle immediately recognized it). "Oh, hello Sara." She sat back up and smiled peacefully, trying to retain her sadness.

"Is something wrong, your highness?" Sara asked, drawing open the curtains to the room, letting in a much welcomed ray of sunlight. To Eirika's surprise, it was already late in the morning. "Did you have trouble sleeping?"

"What time is it?"

"Why, it is almost eleven in the morning. Ordinarily, I would never have allowed you to sleep in so late, but with everything going on, especially with Ephraim, I decided that you needed the extra rest. I do hope I was not out of place for thinking so, your highness." She said apologetically.

"No, no... It's alright right. Thank you, Sara." She smiled again, this time with much more sincerity. "I guess I'm just... worried. I know I asked Seth to accompany him for his own safety, but... still..." Her gaze drifted down toward the floor next to her bed.

"Do not worry, Princess. If I know my brother, Seth will not let anything happen to his highness." She tried to comfort her, bringing over Eirika's clothes for the day and helping her out of bed.

"Hm... I keep forgetting that Seth is your brother. Even though you look very much alike, it always slips my mind." She giggled at first, but then felt slightly embarrassed at forgetting her best friend's own brother. "I... I'm sorry, I-"

"Do not feel bad about it, Miss Eirika. I know that even though we both live here at the castle, we have very different duties, and we are hardly seen together. Sometimes, I forget myself that he is always here." She admitted, tying the back of Eirika's dress down.

"...I'm sorry... I had no idea. I will try to make sure that you are allowed more time to see your brother when they return."

"I am very grateful for your concern, but do not worry. I will see Seth on my own spare time when I can. Do not go troubling yourself with such matters." Sara's heart leaped at the suggestion, but knew it would only cause more strain Eirika's heart if she had to go worrying about something else.

After Sara had finished helping Eirika get dressed, she immediately began to work on her hair. ".....What am I supposed to do, Sara? All I can concentrate on is Ephraim and Seth's safety. But if I do not keep my mind off of them, I'll go mad worrying. But still... Ephraim's dream..."

"Hm..." Sara pondered this. At almost the instant she laid the brush down on the table behind them, she had an idea. "How about a picnic?"

"Hm? A picnic?"

"Of course! You could go horseback riding down to Fallen Leaf Lake, and have a picnic on the water banks. Besides, Cascade Falls empties into Fallen Leaf Lake, and the snow has just melted so it should be rushing with water!"

Eirika delighted at the idea, almost leaping out of her seat, and nearly knocking over the mirror in front of her. "But... there is no satisfaction or joy by having a picnic by yourself..." She reasoned.

"That is true." Sara laughed. "Well, if I recall correctly, Princess L'Arachel is currently in Carcino, which is not too far from here. I am certain that a messenger sent out immediately wou-"

"Actually, Sara, I was... hoping that you might join me. You are my closest friend, after all." She stood up and looked back at Sara. "And besides, it is our brothers that have gone off, not L'Arachel's." She smiled sweetly, all doubt in her mind a distant memory.

"Your highness, I-!" Sara was taken aback by the sudden invitation; nothing had ever happened like this before, so why begin now? Whatever the cause, she regained her composure and responded. "I...- I would be honored to accompany you, princess."

"Well then..." Eirika chortled. "We had better start getting ready.

"Yes, your highness!" She smiled cheerfully, and left the room with an enthusiastic bow.

**********

As Sara had said, the day was an absolutely glorious day for a ride. The sun was directly overhead and offered no blind direction, and a soft, gentle breeze blew from the north. Fallen Leaf Lake was a full hour's ride from the castle, which, ordinarily, was much too far to go out to on merely a whim. But the horses seemed to enjoy the weather almost as much as their riders, and made the journey in half the time.

The snow had just melted, giving Cascade Falls fresh life and vigor, as it sent a countless amount of water down its rocky bank to the lush lake below. Despite the fact that the falls can be heard for a mile around, the lilting sound of the stream racing toward the banks seamlessly melted together with all of the other sounds present.

They at once set out to find a suitable picnic ground, but had to look no further than just above the rim of the lake, closest to them. It was directly across from the falls, which meant that the ground would be much dryer than anywhere else. The wind had blown the trees just enough so that they cast a shadow of the area. Immediately, Sara set out places for all of the food that had been packed for them by the castle chef, along with comfortable towels for them to sit on.

"Sara?" Eirika called, taking her place on the ground.

"Yes, your highness?"

"I think... you were right. This is exactly what I needed." She turned to her smiling. Sara could at once tell that she was truly happy; the first time in almost a week.

"That is wonderful! I feel much better, now that you are happy again." She returned Eirika's smile, with a short laugh afterward.

Sara began to set the area with food, but stopped when she heard the soft but audible sound of rapid steps; most likely a horse. At first, she thought nothing of it, until they both began to notice that it was quickly drawing closer. Instantaneously, she stopped and set out to find out what the traveler wanted.

They walked back to where they had stationed their horses, and saw a young man quickly dismounting a snow white horse. He wore a tattered and torn black cloak over the top of his head which dropped to the ground, and had short white, almost silver, hair. He hurried over to Eirika, who had also come to see who the man was. "Eirika..." He greeted.

"...Knoll? What in the world are you doing here?" Eirika pondered, seeing that he was battered and beaten, almost to the point of passing out.

"Is Ephraim with you?"

"Um, no. Just my handmaid Sara and myself. Why?"

"Well, I guess should explain myself further. You see, I had just stopped by the castle looking for both of you. It took some time, but I finally discovered where you had gone. However, not knowing this particular area, it took longer than I had hoped. Sadly, I was not fortunate enough to find the both of you... because Ephraim was the one I desired to talk to."

"But... Knoll... Ephraim left a few days ago looking for you! He went toward the border to locate your Tower."

"...! As I feared... then I may be too late..."

"Knoll! ...What is going on?"

"....."

**********

"_Finally... I found it..._"Ephraim thought to himself.

Ephraim dismounted his horse, gazing up at the vast tower before him. He continued to look up to it, even while trying to tie down his horse; but the horse reared back constantly, fearing for its life, until eventually it broke free from Ephraim's hold and ran off back toward the woods. But Ephraim remained mesmerized by the sight and did nothing to catch it; rather, he continued to gaze up at it, and slowly began to fall into a deep sleep.

As his eyes began to close, he could hear a faint sound coming from the tower, and quickly snapped him out of his slumber. He turned toward where the sound had come from, and saw a figure dressed in black slowly approaching him. In an instant, he knew who the figure was: "Knoll..."


	8. Test For Echo

_**A/N:**_ I think this is an interesting chapter, not just because you realize now that all of the events up until now are occuring at the same time, but it also refreshes the readers memory about who is doing what. However, I feel like I might have jumped around a bit too much and gone on a bit too long. Hopefully, you'll be able to keep up with my mindless gobbledy-gook and zig-zagging.

* * *

**Samus' Ship**

"The... Echo Prism...?" Samus could not determine in her mind what to make of this statement. Eventually, she gave up and decided to let Descent continue. "I don't suppose you could try to explain this a little slower and more clearly, could you?"

"As long as I need you in order to operate this ship, I suppose I could at least try to explain some of what's going on." He sighed, upset at the fact that he now realized that he did, in fact, need Samus' help. "The Echo Prism is a flat, octagonal, crystal prism, 2 ½ inches long, 1 inch wide, and ½ an inch thick. It has gone through countless owners, the most recent being an idiotic young man named Christopher."

"Countless owners? ...How long has this... '_Thing_'... been around?"

"...Far too long."

Samus detected a hint of sadness in Descent's voice; something she hadn't heard ever before.

**Hyrule  
The Spirit World**

"So this gem, this... 'Echo Prism'... is headed toward Earth. What does that have to do with what is going on now? The earthquakes, the eruptions, the siege of Hyrule... they're all connected?" Zelda asked, slowly beginning to lose her patience with Rauru and the other Sages.

"Yes, they are." Rauru sadly informed.

"But... how could anything have enough power to do this? Not even Ganondorf ever had enough power to do anything to this degree!"

"True... but Ganondorf never had a near omnipotent entity, imprisoned for nearly 5000 years, on the back of his hands."

**The Renais Border  
Knoll's Tower**

"What kind of entity?" Ephraim eagerly asked, sipping the wine provided for him by Knoll.

Knoll turned toward away from the flickering candle, the only source of light in the room. Ephraim noticed him to be a little darker than he had been some years before. "An entity that wiped out nearly an entire kingdom and was the cause of the destruction of an entire planet." An unsettling smirk began to make its way to his face, but his hood cast a large enough shadow to cover it from Ephraim's sight.

**Renais  
Fallen Leaf Lake**

"But Knoll... if you're here, then where is Ephraim?" Eirika asked, almost tears.

"...The truth is... even though the Prism has not collided with Earth, it has already begun affecting this world, and one of its victims has been me." Knoll dismayed. "The Prism has powers and abilities that are all but completely unknown to even me, but the one power we _are _certain of, is, it is the source and leader of the beings known as the Heartless.

Sara almost leapt back at that statement. Everyone in Renais had no doubt heardof the Heartless, but only as a children's tale to put them to bed. "Y-... you mean they... the Heartless... are real?" She steadied herself, and once again stood up to face Knoll. "But... what does that have to do with you being affected by this... 'Thing'?"

"Heartless, if they are powerful enough, have the ability to take on the characteristics of anything or anyone they please. And I... was one of their targets. I was able to get away safely, but I was too late to inform you and Ephraim in time... and it is a two days ride from here to my tower. By the time we reach it, Ephraim may already be dead."

This statement tore Eirika down to the ground, desperately trying to hold back her tears. "How long... before it collides with Earth?" Eirika mustered just enough strength to ask.

"By my estimate... 23 hours."

**The Mushroom Kingdom**

"What happened, Toad?" Princess Peach cried out coughing, trying to cover herself from the falling debris.

"A wildfire your highness! By our guess, it originated from the medical center!" Toad replied, throwing bucket after bucket of water against the raging flames, but with little to no effect.

"But that's-...!" She cut herself short, shifting her direction toward the Medical Center. "Toad, evacuate the building immediately!" She tore a piece off the bottom of her dress' skirt, and wrapped it around her mouth to prevent herself from inhaling more carbon monoxide from the smoke and ashes.

After hap hazardously finding the room where Luigi was stationed at, she let out a small scream, seeing Mario lying on the floor next to the bed where Luigi was being cared for, now empty. "Mario..." As she neared his body, she was struck with horror, seeing that he had been shot full of paralyzing darts.

"P-p...each..." Mario strained himself to call her. Her eyes lit up at the thought that he would still have a chance at survival. "Get... out..." Peach just stood and stared, too shaken up to even move. "Peach... get out of here... NOW...!" She finally snapped out of her hypnotic state, and quickly took him under the arm and carried him off back toward the hall.

Peach called out to Toad, who instantly came running. "Help me with this!" She told him, but instead she just handed Mario over to him while she ran down about twenty yards to the right, where there was a short stone pillar, that seemingly had nothing on it. Peach quickly pushed down the very middle of the pillar, causing the wall where Toad and Mario were to swing inward. They all quickly flooded into it, closing it behind them.

They followed a dank stairway downward, lighting the torches perched on the wall as they went, carrying one themselves. Soon they came to a vast dusty library that had obviously not been used in a very long time. "Now... look for any...thing that has... to do with... the Heartless..." Mario ordered.

Both were astonished at how specific his request was, but they immediately complied. In little less than an hour, they came back with the book in hand. "Who... controls... the Heartless?" He asked, signally with his hand that they should look through the book.

Toad began to read the line: "The being that controls the Heartless is an entity named... Reignlif."

* * *

Samus fell back in her seat and brought her right hand in front of her face, placing her fingers against both temples, trying with all her mental capacity to try and take in what Descent was telling her. "So... what you are telling me is... that some ageless, omnipotent being, that has been trapped in this 'Echo Prism', or whatever you're calling it... is on a collision course with Earth because the M5 bomb that Adam released into the Asteroid Belt during our battle destroyed the gravitational field of the belt and sent every single asteroid hurtling in a different direction, and the one with the Prism inside of it has been, through a freak coincidence, thrown toward Earth, of all planets?"

"Uh... yeah. That pretty much covers it." Descent said sarcastically, prompting Samus to slowly back away from him. "From what you said before, I'd say you already had an encounter with the Prism yourself."

"How?"

"A fragment of the Prism that had been chipped away impacted the planet Aether. You've seen the results. The Ing that you fought were demented forms of the Heartless. Since you were exposed to the Prism' power during that time, you were naturally pulled toward it."

"That's what it was? Ugn... I think I need a drink..." She collapsed back into her seat, holding her head in her hands. "By the way... there's something I've been meaning to ask you about that you haven't been clear on..."

"..."

"How in the world did _you _end up out there? Where did you even come from?" She stood back up, and walked toward him; a gleam of curiosity was apparent in her eyes.

"...That doesn't matter. Besides, it isn't your concern." He said sullenly, releasing the wheel, which caused the auto-pilot to initiate.

"But... but maybe if you-"

"It's not your concern!" He sprung out of his seat, clearly ready to take hostile action. Samus was taken aback by this sudden outburst, afraid of what to say to him now. She had obviously struck a nerve with this subject, and wisely decided to steer clear of it.

* * *

"Is... is there any way to... to prevent it from coming...- down to Earth?" Ephraim stammered.

"Unfortunately, there is no way to stop it." Knoll stated bluntly.

"I see..." He responded, setting his glass down on the small table in front of him. He turned over to an open window blowing from the left side, noticing how cold it was getting.

"However..."

Ephraim shot his glace back toward Knoll who was standing across the room from him, slowly browsing through his vast collection of books.

"Despite the great speed and velocity that the asteroid has picked up during its trip, along with the great heat it will absorb upon entry through the atmosphere, there is a good chance that the Prism will not be destroyed." He told him with little excitement.

"What? But how?"

"The Prism is forged of magic, and magic cannot be easily destroyed by any natural element on earth, no matter how sturdy or destructive it might be. In our world, there are only a select few items which are not _natural elements_. One of which, is in your possession."

"...The Sacred Stones."

"Precisely. The Power of the Sacred Stones combined should enough to shatter what remains of the Prism."

* * *

"What remains? You mean the Prism has been broken before?" Zelda bemused.

"Indeed... however, it was not done using... conventional methods." Rauru hinted.

"Conventional methods?"

"Let's just say that, if that comet makes contact with Hyrule, it will only finish what one person started."

"And that would be...?"

"If the Prism comes within fifty miles of Hyrule, what is left of it will splinter apart. If that happens, Reignlif will be released. That is why the Heartless have been attempting to raze Hyrule to the ground. They want to destroy everyone and everything that might move the one object with that kind of power before the comet arrives."

"...The Triforce!"

* * *

"So _that_ is why this all happened... why the castle is falling to the ground in a rage of fire... all the murders... the Heartless are trying to kill everyone who might be able to gather the Power Stars and move them away from the point of impact. They needed to be able to release this '_Reignlif_' from its prison." Said Toad, stunned with both astonishment and utter fear.

"How did you know all of this, Mario?" Peach asked.

"Back in the Garden a few days ago... I noticed something that had... never occurred before." Mario clawed his way up from the small cot in the corner. "An echo."

"An echo? That's all?" She thought.

"As soon as I noticed it, '_Daisy_' and '_Luigi_' rode up to us, so I immediately knew something was wrong. I did a little research since then, about the original layout of the castle grounds, and I found out something interesting about 'echoes'. An echo is a reflection of sound, arriving at the listener some time after the direct sound. Typical echoes are produced by the bottom of a well, by a building, or in a room, by the walls. However, when I first heard it, it was **before** they had arrived, not after. I also caught a brief glimpse of what '_Daisy_' really was before I went under."

* * *

"But what does your Heartless want with Ephraim, Knoll?" Sara wondered.

"It's fairly simply. In order to access the Sacred Stone, he requires either Ephraim or Eirika."

"You see Sara, after the war was resolved, we needed to make sure that something like that would never happen again; so the rulers of the other nations invented a device that would only allow the leaders themselves to access their Sacred Stone, and the room was encased in a magical barrier harder than a diamond; nothing except a positive identification of the royal family can make their way through the barrier. So even if the comet hits directly on top of the Stone, the barrier protecting it will shield both objects from the other. However..." Eirika stopped.

"If Knoll's doppelganger has Ephraim, he will be able to do whatever he wants." Sara gasped, finishing Eirika's sentence.

"Yes... but luckily for us, they are more than a three days ride away from the Castle, so we should have no immediate concern." She smiled.

"True..." Knoll grasped Eirika's neck from behind.

"What are you-?" The two of them shouted in unison.

"But you are only a half days ride away, and either one will do." He smiled, slowly making his way back to his horse.

"It was a lie... Ephraim is meeting with the real Knoll right now, isn't he? You're the fake!" Eirika struggled as much as she could, but it was a futile effort.

A sadistic look suddenly came upon Knoll's face. "Fun fact! If a person is in a weakened state, blocking their carotid artery will make them black out in four seconds!"

"Your highness!" Sara shouted hysterically, rushing back to her horse and removing a bow with a quiver of arrows from the side of the saddle. She armed it as quickly as she could, but when she turned around, they were gone; and all that remained was an army of Heartless, blocking her path. Slowly, they began to close in on her, backing her to the lake, and cutting off her escape route. She began shooting off a stream of Light Arrows. "Seth... whatever you're doing... I hope it's worthwhile."


	9. Memory

**Samus' Ship****  
Cockpit**

"..._Just who are you, anyway_?" Samus thought. It had been almost an hour since Descent explained the situation, and she not yet gotten up her nerve to ask him another personal question, considering what almost happened last time. She stood up and paced around the ship, constantly telling herself to ask him that same question she had been asking herself since she met him. Finally, her patience was at an end. "_Just who are you, Descent? What's your role in this whole mess_?" At least, that was what she _wanted _to ask him. Instead, it came out: "How much further?"

"21 hours or so, if we're lucky. When was the last time you upgraded this thing anyway?" He criticized, prompting Samus to let out a small laugh. To her dismay, however, it was not intended to be a joke.

At length, she finally blurted it out. "What is your problem?!"

"...Excuse me?"

"First, you almost killed me in the middle of an asteroid belt, then you demolish the entire Galactic Federation Medical Satellite, security officers and doctors included, you kidnap me, and then you steal my ship! Now, I know next to nothing about this entire situation, and even less about you! I want some answers, NOW!" She was in a fit of rage which [she hoped] might startle Descent into explaining more about what was happening.

"Hmph... fine. Since you are so '_interested_' in this, I'll tell you what happened." He spun the chair to the side and stood up. "About five hundred years ago... a young man named Christopher Marker left his family, his home, and everything he loved in search of that accursed trinket, for one very simple reason." He paused for what seemed like ages. At length, he continued. "Power; all he wanted was to obtain more power. Eventually, he found that power; but with it..." He turned his back, leaning his arms against the computer panel.

"...What happened?"

"..." He clenched his fists. "I told you, that doesn't concern you!" He bolted around, launching his right fist against the wall where Samus was leaning, striking just next to the side of her face. The sound that resulted was almost deafening, driving Samus to her knees in agony; the blood that suddenly began dripping from Samus' right ear drove the point home quite nicely. When she regained her composure, she was astonished to see that the wall was not even damaged; Descent, however, was gone.

"Agh... where did he... he go?" Looking around, her eye caught a piece of black cloth flapping around outside the main window at the front. "You have got to be kidding me..." She looked through the clear pane of glass at the top of her ship and saw Descent riding atop the hatch. _"Why am I hanging around with this guy? He kidnaps me, disables my computer, steals my ship, and nearly kills me!" _She thought to herself. _"He hasn't told me anything useful since we left, so who knows how credible he might be? Maybe I should just turn the ship around and head back..." _She stopped suddenly, upon hearing a soft melody, coming from outside. Curious about what it was, she pressed her ear against the roof; "He's... singing?"

_Walking paths_  
_Beyond the human eye  
Doomed to walk  
until I die  
seeing me  
they laugh before my face  
Hearing me  
Expelled from every race  
what's this?  
A single snowflake falls  
Glimmering white  
the gentle love calls  
shall I touch and risk so much?  
In twilight vale  
Alone beneath the trembling sky  
doomed to walk  
and never die_

Samus was almost brought to tears, falling back into the seat behind the controls. She remained in a deep thought, almost like a trance, trying to decipher everything that she had discovered about Descent; all in all, it wasn't much, if anything at all. She pressed her ear against the wall of the ship, hoping to capture something else about him.

**********

_"Why are you trying to hide it? ...Again?"_ A mysterious voice asked.

Descent sighed, throwing his gaze to his right. "...What are you doing here? Don't you have souls to be stealing, or something?"

_"Come on...." _He laughed._ "We've been together all this time, and you still don't know me better than that? I'm hurt."_

"Four hundred seventy-seven years... twenty-eight days... five hours... sixteen minutes... and twelve seconds."

_"...Wooowww... yeah, now __**THAT **__is a long time to be counting. But then again, I guess you would have been counting this whole time, even if you WEREN'T obsessive compulsive."_ The voice had a sharp, piercing nature to it.

"...Shut up." Descent retorted.

_"Hm... let me think about that for a minute- no. You'll eventually tell her anyway, you always do. And besides... whether you like to admit it or not, you like her. Heh, well, if you don't, I do; she's cute."_

"Then why don't _you_ tell her?"

_"Well, I would, except that she can't even see or hear me. That __**would**__ throw a kink in our relationship, wouldn't it?"_

"Exactly; since you can't even talk to her, I suggest you shut up and leave, or I'll shut you up myself. Now beat it."

_"My my, especially touchy today, aren't we? Alright, alright... but seriously; tell her. Heh, or at least ask her out." _His laughing faded away.

**Hyrule****  
Temple Ruins**

Zelda's eyelids flickered; the rain was still pouring down overhead, but a toppled pillar above her shielded her from the rapid droplets. As the haze in her eyes was clearing, she could begin to make out the blurry form of a young man, sitting at her side with his back turned. "Link...?" She murmured.

"Hm?" He turned back toward her. "So, you're finally awake. About time."

"Link... how long was I asleep?" She yawned, sitting herself up on top of her right forearm.

Link's expression fell flat. His eyes turned to an icy cold stare, shaking his head.

Zelda immediately pushed herself all the way up. "How long was I out?!"

".....Three days." He said sullenly.

"What?! Three days? Then why wasn't I moved inside or something? Being out in the rain for that long is dangerous!"

"We tried moving you, but for some reason, we couldn't. It was almost like you were a part of the ground. So, we did the next best thing; improvise a makeshift shelter."

"Part of... the ground? Well, that doesn't matter anymore. We've got trouble; big trouble."

**The Mushroom Kingdom****  
Archives**

Toad began to decipher the text from the book; however, the book being at least a few hundred years old, turned out to be a rather complex task, as there were several pages missing.

Peach's attention was on helping Mario to recover, who was now sitting up much easier than before. "Have you found out anything more about Reignlif yet, Toad?"

"Very little, your highness. This code is extremely old, so I have only been able to read a very small portion; however, what I _have_ uncovered may be of some use:

_The being called Reignlif, also known as The Silent Echo, was fourth of seven Higher Beings (The Elite) who believed it was their mission in life to instruct the beings of the universe in all manner of mathematics, art, literature, and technology, and each of them were assigned one of the seven original universal planes._

_Reignlif was among the more powerful of the beings, but also quite impatient and rather quick-tempered; the area that he was assigned to was the most advanced race called Homo Sapiens (hereafter known as Humans, and first appeared to them in [approximately] the year 1000, in a Kingdom called Linevan._

_Due to mankind's natural arrogance, the humans rejected Reinglif's help, deeming themselves to have already surpassed what little knowledge and wisdom he might be able to offer. Consequently, conflict and suffering ensued on both parties; Reinglif, whose temper immediately got the better of him, decided it was up to him to punish these 'arrogant fools' for their folly, and immediately waged war upon them. He was not aware, however, that each of the six other beings (who were quite familiar with Reignlif's temper) had always kept a constant watch on all of his actions. As a result, he was stripped of half of his power, which was secretly given to the race he was to do battle against._

_This massive increase in both power and intellect proved to be Reignlif's downfall, and ultimately, the entire race's demise. In the beginning of the war, Reignlif and his army of shadows (hereafter referred to as Heartless), had the advantage; since the battles began in late autumn, when the days were shorter, the darkness became stronger._

_As the years went on, __Linevan__ slowly gained the advantage and managed to whittle the Heartless to where the battles would be tilted in their favor, even during the short winter days. Despite this crucial advantage, the King of __Linevan__, Yuhma Casull, was slain in battle by Reignlif himself at the battle of Mount Tallac._

"I'm afraid that is all there is, your highness." Toad sighed in disappointment.

"Nothing? Nothing more about his abilities, the end of the war, the fate of the people... nothing about them at all?"

"This code is extremely old, to say nothing about the book itself. I'm surprised there are even this many pages still intact."

"Well... we don't have many options open to us at the moment to avoid this, do we?" Mario blatantly stated.

"What are we supposed to do? Just wait down here?!" Peach fumed.

"At this point highness, with the entire castle reduced to rubble, and collapsed on top of us... that's all we can do."


	10. The Final Countdown

A/N: I honostly don't have a clue what the hell I was talking about with Eirika and Xalfis here, or what I was trying to accomplish. I apologize. :(

* * *

**Renais  
Fallen Leaf Lake**

Sara was hunched over in exhaustion; she had just used the last of her arrows, but still the Heartless advanced. It was all she could do to keep on moving, and not allowing them once to surround her. "They just keep on coming..." She thought to herself.

Her worst fears were realized, as she felt herself suddenly backing into a tree at the edge of the lake, and her only chance of escape was cut off by five hidden flankers. "Heh heh... So this is it, huh?" She said to herself, closing her eyes and dropping her head down in defeat; she quickly braced herself for her death when a barrage of them leaped at her, but when she opened her eyes, she saw a young, red-haired man dressed in blue standing in front of her, with three Heartless run through the tip of his spear.

"Seth!" She gasped.

He turned his head just enough for her to see the right side of his face, and then smiled; he quickly proceeded to slay the advancers. After he was certain that all immediate dangers were averted and Sara was safe, he abandoned his spear and drew out his sword to drive the cowardly away, and kill the foolish brave ones.

"Are you alright?" He hurried over to where she was laying, unfastening the ties on his cape as he went.

"Ung... I'm fine... for the most part, at least." She tried to stand, but quickly fell back to the ground. "Agh!" She grimaced in pain, clutching her left ankle.

Seth quickened his pace and knelt down beside her, making a quick examination for any cuts, or fractures. When he arrived at her right ankle, she shouted again. "Aaa!"

"A broken Talus..." He said grimly. "And a partially fractured Tibia. Can you walk?"

"I'm not sure... I can try to- Aaahhh!" She screamed, crumpling back to the ground.

"Mmm... I was afraid of this..." He muttered, tearing off pieces of his cape to use as a make-shift cast and to bandage the rest of her wounds.

"But... I don't understand. If I had all of these injuries, why didn't I realize it or notice it during the battle?"

"Both adrenaline and life & death situations will do that to you. They will block out the pain for as long as possible, and will usually end soon after the situation is over. Believe me, it has happened to me on several occasions." He said laughing, just as he finished tying on the rest of the bandages. Remembering that she couldn't walk, he opted to carry her instead.

"Never mind that! We need to get back to Renais immediately!"

"Why? What ha-"

"I'll explain on the way! Just hurry!"

**********

Eirika's head felt like it was on fire. She felt a dank, damp stone floor beneath her, and as she opened her eyes, all was pitch black. "Ooh... my head..." She pressed against the side of her head. "Where... am I? What's going on?" She stood up, turning in all directions for some light and a clue to her situation. "Hello?" She called out, her voice echoing off of each of the stony faces.

"So, you're finally awake, your highness." Said an approaching voice, carrying a bright torch in his right hand, forcing Eirika to shield her eyes, as they had not yet adjusted.

"Who... who is it?! Who's there?!"

"You don't remember? Hm... strange. And you were only out for about an hour or two."

Eirika's eyes were slowly adjusting to the newly introduced light, but were still too unfocused to make out the person before her. Her hand began to drop back to her side again, when immediately she noticed something missing. "My bracelet! Where is it?!" Her eyes darted back and forth across the dank floor for any signs of it.

"Your whatnow? Oh! you mean this?" He held up something in his hand, just as her eyes were focused enough to see again.

"Knoll...?" Upon seeing him, her gaze drifted around the room. For the most part, it was a simple dank cavern, without any modification to level out the floor. There were, however, several large pillars supporting the structure. She continued to examine her surrounds, but when she turned around, she was met the sight of a large silver door, embedded with gems, mostly diamond, zircon and ruby, spelling out something on the door, but the text was far too ancient and primitive to read.

"Oooh... so close, but no. You can call me Xalfis. Cool name, huh? Because you can't hear the 'X' sound! How rad is THAT?! I'm sure this would be a pleasant feeling for me, if I still had a heart, huh? But hey! Don't worry about it! That's what you're going to help me fix!"

"...I'm.... a little confused... what is going on right now?"

"Let me break it down for you. I'm sure you've heard of the Heartless, right?"

"Of course. Everyone has heard of them. It's a popular children's story here in Renais, about small creatures that would steal the heart of a child and turn them into an empty shell; told only to try and frighten children whenever they became a tad... unmanageable. What about it?"

"Say what?! It's been turned into a book? Hm... The Organization's Number 1 won't be too pleased to hear that. Maybe we should sue for copyright violation... well, ... it's not just a child's bedtime story. And you, my beautiful princess... are looking at the product of one of those many, many Heartless, who are under our control. Now I'm just a Nobody. Literally!"

Eirika withdrew a few feet in fear. She felt a wave of cold rush across her body, and stood paralyzed. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but could not find it within herself to produce any words.

"It's depressing, isn't it? Knowing that you were never supposed to exist… At least, I think that was the emotion I would be feeling right about now... I think... or was it joy? Annoyed? Tired. No, it was hungry. No, that's not it..." He quietly debated.

"Hmph... Now I know where we are. We're just outside the chamber where Renais' Sacred Stone is being kept. That's what you want, isn't it?"

"Huh? Um..."

"Well, let me just say that you're wasting your time. The door will not open unless Ephraim, myself, and our bracelets are present. You should have done a little more research before you attempted this." Eirika said in a smug tone.

"Is that right... well then, I guess you should have done YOUR homework. You see, Identical twins occur when a single egg is fertilized to form one zygote which then divides into two separate embryos. Although their traits and physical appearances are not exactly the same due to environmental conditions both inside the womb and outside the womb, they do have the same DNA. And since they share the same DNA, all I need is a drop of your blood or a strand of hair on this bracelet to achieve my goal." He held up a small vial of blood. "As you can see, I've already obtained Ephraim's sample, and unless you're willing to be cooperative, there is only one way to obtain either of those two items from YOU." He advanced toward Eirika, throwing away his cloak and raising his hands to attack.

Eirika reached down to her side, frantically searching for her sword. "The odds are against me..." She thought. "I know for a fact that this guy, if he's telling the truth, is a magic caster. That means that I have to keep my distance, and dash in during breaks between his attacks. Unfortunately... this terrain is not what I had in mind for this type of strategy. Rocky, slippery, dark... Darkness here is the worst factor. If I try to run in for a quick attack, a loose rock, a slippery surface, is all he needs to get what he wants. There has to be a better way..." She leaped backwards, letting her eyes dart back and forth across the field. "Alright, now quickly: examine your surroundings, look for a weakness in either him, or his terrain, and come up with the best possible counter-measure to fight against it. There has to be something I can use... but until that 'something' I need becomes increasingly obvious... I'm on my own."

"Now then... shall we begin?"

"Alright... first priority: Find cover." She raced across the terrain, finding cover behind one of the stone pillars, about twenty feet high, and seven feet in diameter. "Luckily, a strong gust was blowing toward the flame, which choked the light enough for me to get away without his knowing where I am. Perfect. I have the advantage. Now... just wait for my opening."

"You know what the best part about being a Necromancer's Nobody is?" He began, as another, more powerful, gust of wind proceeded to blow out the torch.

"Oh no..." Eirika dropped down to the ground, as the entire cave was engulfed in an abysmal darkness.

"You don't need the light to see where you're going."

**Hyrule Castle Ruins**

"So that's it, huh?" Link sighed. He and Zelda were seated across from each other in the official conference room (along with the Hyrule Royal Guard), debating how they should respond to the impending crisis.

"Now that you have all been brought up to speed on the situation, we need a plan of action, and while I am the ruler of Hyrule, and it is my sworn duty to decide all courses of action, I am open to any and all suggestions concerning this problem. If you have a suggestion, please share it; but be brief, as we have no idea of how long we have left."

The room fell deathly silent in a haze of despair. Each person seated at table turned to the person next to them, as if waiting for them to say something. At length, the head captain, Ezthra, stood up. He looked to forty-five, perhaps forty-six years of age. He had salt & pepper hair, which had begun thinning in the front, but had a thicker beard which had not yet begun to gray. He wore a silver breast-plate with the symbol of the Triforce imprinted on the shoulders, with the symbol of a large black bird with yellow wings in flight. His rough, rather gruff, voice boomed with an air which commanded the respect of all present. "If the Sages have abandoned us, then, taking the city's best interest to mind, I highly suggest we make a full evacuation."

The majority of the room nodded in silent approval, but at this remark Link stood up in deep protest. "You can't be serious! Even if we do evacuate the town, if what Zelda says is true, then even running won't do any good. If the Sages refuse to help us, then we'll plead our case to a higher court."

"I told you already Link! The three Goddesses were the ones to recall the Sages in the first place. They can't help us either..." Zelda reminded.

"Then what are we supposed to do?! Just run away?!"

"Use your head, boy!" Ezthra chimed.

"What?!" Link turned to him.

"Look at what we're up against! We are going up against one of the three Goddess' own siblings! If even the creators of Hyrule, the Sages, and even the Triforce are afraid of their own brother, then what chance have we? If we are to survive this calamity, then our wisest choice of action would be first to flee to a safe haven, and then make further plans."

"Yeah, but...!" Link began to speak, but found himself unable to argue with Ezthra's words. "Fine... but I don't like it."

"It is settled then. Your highness..."

"Very well, Ezthra. We will begin immediate evacuation of the populace, civilian and military personal alike. Now go!"

**Mushroom Kingdom  
Archives**

"Well, if we don't get out of here soon, we're going to have a lot more problems than just some 'magical trinket' hurtling toward the earth." Mario groaned, pacing back and forth from wall to wall, either out of excitement or sheer boredom.

"Oh yeah? And what are they?" Peach sighed, leaning against the wall, obviously becoming bored herself.

"Number one is the obvious problem: food. The Mushroom Kingdom Archives were never meant to be used as a bomb shelter for weeks on end. Number two: We have at least three hundred tons of rubble on top of us; I doubt the ceiling was meant to carry that kind of weight."

"Now now, lad, not all hope is lost yet." An elderly voice sounded from behind a row of books.

"Toadsworth!" Peach gasped, rushing over to hug him.

"Yes, I am quite alright, your highness. I've been through worse than this! Ha-ha!" He laughed with a light heart. "And you, young man..." He began to scold Mario. "We don't need that type of cynical attitude in this situation. Not to mention something that all of you are overlooking."

"We are? And what is that?" Toad asked.

"That Mario has little to no knowledge of architecture, and how the building process works, and that you're blindly taking whatever he says as fact."

"What are you talking about?" Peach wondered.

"What would be the first thing an architect would do if he were designing an underground archive?" The elder Toad questioned them.

"......" No one answered.

"They would have built an extra, alternative exit that would take them as far away from the castle as possible, of course! Which is exactly where I just came from." He smirked. "Now come on! We have a job to do!" He signaled for them to follow him.

Mario grabbed the torch from against the wall and followed the crowd as they walked deeper into the library. At length, they came to a large door, about fifteen feet high, and ten feet wide. Mario raised the torch to try and make out the symbols imprinted on it. There were seven stars positioned in a circle, and each of the stars had a unique personal design on them. On one was a large, grey, handlebar mustache, much like Toadsworth's, while another had a cute pink bow on its head. "What is this?" Mario asked.

"This, my well 'stached friend...." Toadsworth began, pushing the doors open. "Is our next step in assuring both our survival, and the eradication of this beast."

As the doors burst open, a blinding, almost burning light escaped from the doors, illuminating even the night sky above the wrecked castle. As the light dispersed, they could clearly see inside. As they looked closer, they saw a powder blue orb hovering in the center of the small room without any supports. Peach was the first to comment on this marvelous sight. "T-t-this i-i-i-is---!" She stammered, unable to come to grips with what they were seeing.

**The Milky Way Galaxy  
Samus' Ship**

Samus tossed and turned on her bed for what seemed like hours. She and Descent had been flying non-stop for almost twenty hours straight, and had been arguing the entire time. The two of them had finally called a truce until they landed, which gave Samus enough time to catch some much needed sleep. However, something in her mind had been keeping her awake, and no matter how many times she banished it from her mind, it continued to torment her curiosity.

"What's the matter, Lady? Bad dreams again?" A familiar voice sounded on the over-head speaker.

Samus jerked up from her bed at that sound. "Adam?!"

"Who else would it be?!" He shouted.

"But, didn't Descent get rid of you?"

"Well, sort of. All he really did was rerouted me from the entire ship's OS to only your quarters."

Almost half the load that weighed on Samus' mind had been lifted upon hearing this. Soon, she felt as though she could finally get some sleep and decided to lie back down... only to be awaked by the sound of her door sliding open. "Agh...! What is it now?!" She fumed, tossing a pillow at him.

"Zero hour."

"Excuse me?"

"We're nearing Earth's orbit. Suit up."


	11. The Kill

**_A/N:_** This is the chapter where I realized that I was featuring Fire Emblem much more heavily than I was any other series. After this, I tried to scale back FE's part in the story.

**

* * *

**

Beneath Renais Castle

Eirika's eyes had begun to adjust to the newly introduced darkness, but she was still unable to pinpoint Xalfis' position. _"This is bad..."_ She thought. _"The longer I stay hidden being this stalagmite, the sooner he's going to find me. You have to move NOW Eirika!"_ She kept telling herself, but legs refused to move. Beads of perspiration dripped down her cheek, and her knees began to shake. She closed her eyes in an effort to concentrate more. _"Come on... move!"_ But all attempts were in vain. She could not seem to shake the fear in her heart.

"What are you waiting for, huh?!" Xalfis shouted. "One follicle of hair, one drop of blood, some urine if you're so scared that you decide to pee your pants, that's all it will take! Do you really think you'll escape this battle without leaving even one sample of DNA behind?!"

"..."

"And you call yourself the ruler of Renais... pitiful. You return from a full-scale war that you helped to lead, and you don't even have the courage to try and save your pathetic world from its own destruction?!"

"...!" Xalfis' taunting began to stir up something quelled up within Eirika, but she was uncertain if it were for better or for worse. _"He's right."_ She sighed. _"I have returned from the war more cowardly. I am not even willing to risk my life to save my own kingdom. And if that is the case, then I have already lost more than this battle; I have lost the trust of my people." _Eirika's sword fell to the ground, causing a great echo to issue forth from all of the surrounding walls, directing Xalfis to her exact location.

"There you are..." Xalfis turned around toward a shadowy figure sitting on the ground. Eirika stood up in front of him with her hands raised in submission.

"You will not even try to resist anymore?" As he inquired, a thick cloud of a black mist welled up in his right hand, obviously a very potent and high-level Necromancer spell.

_".....Can someone like me... truly rule over these people?"_

"Hm... a pity. And here I was hoping that you would make this an interesting battle. Even though in my former life I once fought alongside you, I don't ever recall fighting you myself. Oh well... perhaps I'll get a chance to duel Ephraim, if my heartless has not already stolen his heart."

Upon hearing this statement, Eirika's doubtful spirit instantaneously left her mind, and thought only of what sort of danger or terror Ephraim may be facing this very moment. _"What would he say if he saw me like this? Choking in the face of adversity... losing my confidence... standing her in utter submission..."_

"Well, I'll try to make this as quick as possible. However... I cannot assure you that it will be very painless." He snickered, thrusting his right hand forward toward Eirika. "Ow!" He grimaced, clenching his hand in pain. What the-?" He looked back up, to examine what had happened; a three foot diameter circle had been blown out from the center of the stalagmite, but Eirika was nowhere to be seen. "Where did she-?!" His words were stopped short, as his footing was quickly kicked out from underneath him, sending him tumbling down to a small pond filled with about two feet of water. "So..." He gasped, wiping the water from his face, and exhaling the rest back to the shallow pond. "So... you aren't... such a coward after all. Good. Now we can get started." His eyes darted across the room, searching for movement.

"We were your friends, Knoll!" Her voice echoed off all the surrounding walls, reaching Xalfis from all directions. "How can you betray us like this?!"

"Heh, friendship? You're wasting your time... I don't have any memory of feelings from the heart." He laughed dryly, obviously trying to dredge up some personal feelings from his past life from his 'heart'.

"If that is true... then I shall show no remorse during this fight, either; I will battle tooth & nail to stop you, even if I have to kill you."

Xalfis knew that, even though he had the luxury of long-range attacks, Eirika had the high ground, which ultimately gave her the advantage. _"This could become quite a problem with the Organization, if the comet hits and I haven't attained the Sacred Stone... it won't be good for me. I need her to lose her focus again; bring her down to my level. It appears that the mere mention of Ephraim is what caused her to regain her confidence again, so perhaps..." _An idea struck him. "I wonder how that pretty little handmaid of yours is faring right now..." He called out in a loud voice so that the sound would definitely reach Eirika's ears.

"Sara...?!" Eirika stopped her movement immediately, causing several lose rocks to tumble down into the pound where Xalfis was, splashing into the water just to the right of him.

"It's a pity that she would have to have her heart stolen from her... and at such a young age, too."

"....." The sudden mention of her brought back the memory of the situation Sara was in when they were separated. "That's right..." Eirika's resolve slowly began to waver.

"She was only, what, sixteen?"

"...Fifteen." Eirika's eyes began to water; she had always considered Sara to be like a little sister to her, and the thought of her killed in such a manner was almost unbearable. The two of them would play out in the courtyard when they were younger, and Ephraim and Seth were either off in battle or training, and would often keep each other company in trying circumstances. _"No! Fight it off! He's just trying to make you lose your nerve again! There's no way that Sara could have been defeated like that. She's too well trained!"_

"Fifteen? Really? Now that IS a shame... she had her whole life ahead of her, too."

"Shut up!" So entranced in memories, Eirika failed to notice Xalfis slowly climbing the rocky slope to her position, which he had definitely pinpointed.

"'Shut up!'?... Is that the best retort you can come up with? I just killed your best friend, and that's all you can muster? Pathetic."

Eirika, seeing Xalfis standing in front of her, now realized what had happened: she had lost her one crucial advantage, but had gained a new one. He was within striking range of her rapier, and could finish him off with one blow. However, being in such an emotional and unstable state, this new advantage was quickly lost; as she thrust her sword toward his stomach, but he blithely moved to one side, letting her fall to the ground, face-down. As she tried to roll over, a sharp blow struck her on her stomach. Eirika bit down on her lower lip in pain. "That's for earlier." His eye twinkled psychotically.

_"I deserve this..."_ She thought, curling up her body as a result of Xalfis' incessant beating. _"All of this... I couldn't console Ephraim..." _"Gah!"_ "I sent Seth to his doom..." _"Aaa!" _"I left Sara to die..." _"Hrn...!" _"And for what? This?"_

At length, Xalfis ceased his cruel beatings on Eirika, and picked her up and braced her against the cavern wall. "Oh come now, don't lose consciousness already! The fun's just begun! Although, I suppose that I really should open that darned door and retrieve that stupid Stone of yours. After all, I only have about, oh, I'd say about a half an hour left. I have all that I need anyway. So instead of keeping you alive, I'll just kill you quickly. But before you go, would you like to say anything, 'dear friend'?" He giggled, preparing a finishing spell with his right hand.

Eirika's eyes slowly tried to open, but naturally resisted; her strength had been spent. Trying to find her focus, she began coughing up blood. Truly, she was at her limit. But, seeking to go past her limit, one word issued forth from her battered and beaten face: "Thunk..."

The instant she uttered this, Xalfis felt two sharp, piercing pains penetrating him from behind. He quickly let out an agonizing scream of pain, falling to his knees. He lost his grip on Eirika, who began to fall to the ground, completely without any energy to hold her up. As she fell to the dank cavern floor, a small, almost miniscule amount of joy crept onto her mouth.

Moments before she hit the floor, two pairs of hands caught her and picked her up. _"Sara... Seth..."_ She tried to say, but it only became a thought in her mind.

Xalfis arose, clawing around his back searching for the weapon. He soon came to two half-inch thick rods, embedded about four inches deep. "Heh...grk!" He grunted, plucking them out one by one. "So, you managed to survive against the barrage of Heartless that I sent against you." He turned around, facing the two beings responsible. One was a young man, somewhere in his mid-twenties. The other was a young, teenage girl, holding a bow strung with three arrows in her hand. From the tips of the arrows came a blinding beam of a radiant, almost heavenly light. "Sara... and Seth, I'm more surprised that **you're** here."

Seth, who was Eirika's chief support at the moment, gave her over to Sara. "Be careful with her..." He said.

Sara nodded in approval, and carried her down the slope to a more comfortable area where she could tend to her wounds.

With Eirika and Sara safely away from them, he could turn his full attention to Xalfis.

"Anyway Seth, as I was saying, I could have **sworn** that Eirika sent you to accompany Ephraim to his demise. Oh well, you can go now. I have had my fun with Eirika, and I have no personal grudge against you... yet." Xalfis said arrogantly, turning his back directly toward Seth, and heading back toward the chamber where the Sacred Stone was being kept. No sooner had he turned around, that a six foot steel spear plunged into the ground in front of him, halting his movement.

"You are not going **ANYWHERE** until I have finished with you. And after I am done, you will not be going anywhere, **PERIOD**."

"_Oooh_... a threat. Now tell me, Seth. I don't remember a whole lot from my past life... did you always follow through on your promises, or did you always just make idle threats? Hm?

"In a second, you're going to find out **EXACTLY **what I mean." Seth's eyes burned with the fire of fury, and vengeance.

"Look Seth, I'd really rather not do this. I had my fun with Eirika, and I **really** have to be going now. Honestly! Besides, I have several key advantages: first, I have the higher ground; second, my eyes have had much longer to adjust to this darkness than yours have; and third, I'm as calm as ever. You must know better than anyone the rash decisions you're bound to make when you're angry."

"..."

"Now, why don't you just go away, alright? I don't have time to deal with you right now. Besides, you're just going to end up like your dearly belov-"

"Try it!" Seth cried, drawing his sword from its scabbard and charging head-long toward Xalfis, who stood about thirty yards away on top of a rough incline, mostly made of granite.

"Ah, now **this** is the fight I wanted to see Eirika give me!" Xalfis cried, summoning a small yellow orb to his left hand. The thrust this orb into the ground; suddenly, the entire cavern began to shake, until the point where it felt as though it would cave in on all of them at any moment. At length, the shaking ceased. Two giant hands of granite appeared out of the ground, and the hillside of rock began to slide downward sending Seth back down along with it. "I'm sure I don't need to explain this attack to you, Seth. I'm sure you remember it from before. This spell gives me complete control over whatever mineral I am in contact with; in this case, this hill of granite. Also, any piece of granite that falls on you during this attack, **stays** on you, and will slowly crush you underneath it."

Seth seemed unfazed by this attack, because he was already familiar with Knoll's previous skills, and knew how to counter them; this attack requires both the summoner's hands in order to move the attacker's substance, and also, the caster was not allowed to move. Sara was in the perfect position to attack. "Sara!" He called out, leaping back and forth to avoid the earthy waterfall of rock.

"On it!" She replied, cocking two more arrows in her bowstring. But as she fired, the light from the tips of the arrows revealed that Seth's entire left side had already been leached onto by one of the granite hands. "Seth! No-!" She cried out in concern.

But it was too late. As the arrows plunged into Xalfis' chest, the excruciating pain caused him to involuntarily clench both of his fists, crushing Seth's leg. "GAAAAAHHHHH!" Seth screamed in agony, writhing on the ground. "Hu...hu....hu.... no...no...!" He said in determination, wiping the blood from his side. He fingered around for his sword, determined on destroying Xalfis as he promised.

Xalfis climbed back up to his feet, but made no motion to remove the two arrows protruding from his chest. "Well... Seth... I can see that you're still trying to find your sword. Well, you can stop looking, because it was thrown up here when we were both... 'Incapacitated'." He laughed, spinning the sword around in his hand. "Now... lie down and die."

Seth suddenly muscled himself back to his feet, much too both their surprise. He was already about three quarters of the way up the hill, and ran full-tilt the rest of the way. As he came up to the top of the slope, his first action was throwing a right hook at Xalfis' jaw. _"Fight the pain!"_ He thought to himself, followed by a left cross to Xalfis' chest. _"Forget about the broken bones... forget about the blood! Just keep on him! Don't stop until he's a bloody piece of pulp on the ground!" _He continued to think, throwing punch after punch, until at last, one of his punches sent Xalfis hurtling back against the door leading to the Sacred Stone.

"H...eh...heh...heh...." Xalfis lay on the ground, gasping for air. "I... really...have to... thank you... Seth. Y... you just... finished up... the end of my journey. Because now... there's nothing to stop me... from doing... **this**." He reached down inside his pocket for something. Soon, he pulled out a long, shiny object with a blue stone set in the middle, smeared with two streaks of blood.

"N...no...!" Seth fell to the ground, slowly losing consciousness.

"Yes Seth... I'm afraid you're a little too late." He smirked, pressing Eirika's bracelet against the door. The door creaked open, and a stream of light flooded the cave with an almost holy light.


	12. Attack

**The Mushroom Kingdom  
****Archives**

"I had no idea... that this actually existed!" Peach exclaimed, unable to remove her gaze from the powder blue orb.

"I thought this was just a legend!" Toad chimed.

"Oh no, I quite assure you, it is as real as you and I are at this very moment!" Toadsworth laughed.

"Has it ever been used, Toadsworth?" Asked Mario.

"Previously, only once; unfortunately, I was never informed of the results of that particular mission, as those who used it were never heard from again." He said in a disheartened tone.

"I see..."

"Tell me Toadsworth, are the four of us all that's left of the Mushroom Kingdom's inhabitants?" A concerned Peach asked.

"The real Princess Daisy and Luigi have been informed of it, and have undoubtedly used their orb it to evacuate Sarasaland and Mushroom Kingdom refugees. However, due to the object's unstable nature, there is no telling exactly where they ended up. Even if we do use this item, there is no guarantee that we will ever see them again."

"If we take it with us, can we reverse the effects?" Mario wondered.

"I suppose we could... but that's never been attempted before!" Toadsworth cautioned them.

"We don't have a choice anymore." Mario stated.

The rest of the group agreed at length, but were still hesitant to use it. "Come on, everyone. Let's go!" Toadsworth smiled cheerfully, placing his hand on the light-blue orb; the others followed suit, and in an instant, they were gone.

**Hyrule  
****Outskirts**

Zelda and Link stood staring at the ruins of Hyrule, afar off in the distance. Behind them, the train of refugees were being evacuated, and all was ready to leave. "How... how could this happen Link?" Zelda asked, pressing her head against Link's shoulder.

"...I don't know." He turned, placing his hands around her shoulder. "Just remember... this isn't the end of the world. Maybe one day... we'll come back." He tilted her head back up, smiling cheerfully, and wiping the tears from her eyes. "But more importantly, we need you to be ready to lead these people to their next place on the earth, so no sad faces, okay?"

"...I suppose you're right." She returned his smile, then softly kissing him on his cheek. "Maybe someday..."

**The Milky Way Galaxy**

"What exactly is the plan again?" Samus spoke into the com-link to Descent who was stationed on top of the ship.

"I'm only going to explain this once more..." His voice crackled through the speaker. "The comet is moving fast enough to pass through several different dimensions at once. When we get to Earth's orbit, I am going to open up that dimensional barrier, so we can see the earth's that the comet is going to strike; of course, it will only look like one earth, but it is actually several occupying the same space. What I want you to do is to fly me up alongside the comet, then I will try to either alter the comet's direction, or destroy it before it impacts the earth. Got it?"

"That's... what I thought you said." _"Oh well, can't do anything about it now."_ "We're entering Earth's orbit right about now!"

Descent sat atop the ship in a meditative position. He bowed his head into his hands, and folded them with both index and fifth fingers extended. "いのおうす-ぶたとりさるひつぢ!"

Samus, who had heard the incantation, watched vigilantly over the horizon. After a few moments, the ship began to rattle. Almost instantly after, a blue object, about the size of a marble, materialized in front of them. "Whoa... how did you-? Aw, forget it. I'm done trying to figure you out."

"Alright, this is it. Gun it!"

"Gotcha." She replied, pushing a driver-side throttle all the way forward, then flicking a switch to the left of the steering wheel. "I've set it to auto-pilot, and I'm going to suit up; just in case you need me." She proceeded to the rear end of the cabin. _"Yeah, like __**That'll**__ ever happen."_

**********

_"Oh, go on D. March back in there and give her a big hug and kiss, will ya?"_ A voice said to him.

"I don't have time to deal with you right now, so just shut up and leave!" He yelled.

_"Hey, don't get upset at me. You're just mad because you just don't have the guts to down and tell her how you feel. And besides, she kind of reminds me of-"_

"No, she doesn't."

_"Now __**THERE**_ _is where you're wrong. It's been a while since you've seen her, ain't it? Well, let me tell ya, __**that girl**__ in there... she's the spitting image of her, and you know it."_

"Yeah, well... so what if she is? It isn't her, so I don't care. Now will just go away until this whole ordeal is over?!"

_"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever. I know when I'm not wanted. If that's how you feel, then I'll... I'll just go away! Forever!"_

"Oh, shove it. You and I both know that's a load of crap." Descent remarked as the voice disappeared into the abyss.

By this time, Samus was already suited up and was back in the cockpit, and had overheard most of the 'one-sided' conversation, as Descent had forgotten to remove his com-link. Samus was silent, and unsure of what to make of this. Her thoughts were short lived, however, as Descent's voice crackled over the loudspeaker again, this time directed at Samus. "We're entering Earth's gravitational pull, and we're almost alongside the comet. I'll need you at the wheel if we want a chance of stopping this thing!"

"On it!" She replied, switching the ship off auto-pilot. She could see the comet streaking toward the many earths in front of her, and tried her best to pull up alongside of it. No sooner had she come up behind it that she had to abort.

"You're gonna have to get closer than that if you want me to get on it!"

"I'm sorry! According to the ship's computer, the temperature of the comet is almost 14,000,000 kelvins! That's hotter than the temperature of the sun's core! This ship wasn't designed for that kind of heat!"

"It doesn't matter! You have to get the ship alongside it, even if it destroys it!"

"....Alright, I'll try!" She gunned down on the throttle, pulling up along-side the comet again. As Samus expected, all systems began overheating; a complete system failure was imminent if she didn't pull away immediately. "Descent!" She signaled.

"I know!" He cried, drawing his knives from behind his cloak, and getting ready to leap onto the stellar object. He jumped onto it, but the intense heat nearly overwhelmed him. He crossed his hands in front of his face to shield him from the flame. However, the incredible velocity that the comet had blew him off the back into the black oblivion.

"Crap-!" Samus blurted, speeding as fast as she could after Descent. In a moment, she caught up with him and landed him on the wing. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Forget about me! I need one more shot!" He ordered. "Now fly!"

Samus opened the throttle and shot back with whatever energy the ship had left. Almost instantaneously, she had caught back up with the ship, and proceeded to pull up alongside it. But as she feared, the ship was unable to withstand the heat and began to rip apart, starting with the outer adamantium shell. "Hurry up Descent! I can't hold this forever!"

Descent drew his knives again, and jumped on head-first to ensure that they dug in deep enough to hold him in place. With that, Samus immediately pulled away in an attempt to salvage the ship. But upon entering earth's atmosphere, the additional heat was too great for this ship to withstand and began to blow apart. "Gah!" The main monitor blew up in her face, sending her reeling back. _"Too dangerous to stay here!" _Samus thought. _"The steering mechanism has been disabled, and I have less than three minutes until I crash on the surface. Got to get out of here, pronto!"_ She stood back up and broke for the exit at the center of the ship. She pushed up on the hatch, but it was no good. The searing heat had fused the hatch shut, sealing her continued to beat and pound, but the door refused to budge. Desperate, she looked around for anything she might be able to use. "The chair...!" She said. She ran back over to where she was sitting and wrestled the chair out of the ground. She took a few steps back, then hurled it through the main window, instantly shattering it. _"Thank heavens the heat weakened that panel..."_ She then proceeded out the destroyed pane, and out of the ship.

Meanwhile, Descent was desperately trying to dig his way to the center of the comet where the Prism was. Using one of the knives to brace himself on the speeding projectile, he used the other one to chip away at the rocky debris. The progress was slow. Too slow, in fact, to complete before impact. The streak of flame surrounding the comet also hindered progress, as it would routinely singe his body and dry out his eyes, enticing him to look away. _"Almost... there..."_ He thought, motivating himself to work even harder. _"....come on... come on...!.....COME ON!"_ His strikes were precise and piercing. Soon, he had uncovered the much sought-after object: a flat, multi-colored crystal gem, about three to four inches in diameter.

The fire made it glint repeatedly. _"One... more... hit!"_ He raised his knife to strike, but the incessant shinning from the gem blinded Descent, throwing his aim off, and struck the area where his other knife was set to brace him, releasing both him and the dagger, sending them flying skywards, powerless to do anymore. _"No... I failed... I wasn't able to stop it in time..."_ His mind continued to think.

Five seconds to contact; four... three... two... one. "Impact..." He whispered, and the world went blind in a flash of white.


	13. Divide

**Samus & Descent**

Samus lay on the ground, unconscious. Her eyes began to flicker, just slightly, then they began to open. "Ohhh..." She groaned. "My head... feels like it's on fire..." She felt a shortage of breath. "The suit!" She thought. "There's been some... damage to the... oxygen intake valve! Got to get it off!" She wrestled with her helmet, but seemed to make little headway. "It's been fused to the rest of the suit... not good! Only one option!" She moved her beam cannon to the side of her helmet, then moved her head as far back as possible. When she was clear of the range, she fired a shot which blew the visor off. She gasped for air, then began to pant. Soon, her breathing returned to normal and she proceeded to remove the rest of her Power Suit.

Once the helmet was off, she stood up slowly and examined her immediate surroundings. From where she stood, it looked like she was in a typical mountain cave. "Something's wrong with my body... did I just get shorter? The suit's not fitting right. Plus..." Puzzled, she quickly removed the rest of her Power Suit.

"AAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!" She screamed in at a deafening pitch. A higher pitch than her voice had been previously."My body-! I look like I'm fifteen!!!" She fell back to the floor in complete disbelief, unsure of what to make of the situation. "DESCENT!!!! What happened to me?! Descent!" She cried out, but there was no answer. "Descent?"

When she looked around the room, she saw Descent on the ground, his tunic tattered and torn, with his right sleeve ripped off at the soldier. The rest of his clothes had suffered similar damage, although on a much smaller scale. "...Descent?" She gasped, kneeling down beside him. "He looks different too... did he get younger also?"

"I've never seen him like this before... heavy breathing, feverish, even his skin feels clammy..." She placed her hand on his forehead, checking his temperature. "I can't tell for certain... the mask is in the way. Perhaps if I..." She was hesitant at first, but soon decided against it. "No... if he did survive this, he'd probably kill me. I'd better just see what I can do with it on; give him a LITTLE privacy. But still..." The inclination quickly became stronger, but she refused to give in. To avoid more temptation, she stepped outside to see if of the surrounding areas could offer some medicine or comfort.

The cave was at the base of a large, snow-capped hill. The cold air stung, and each breath was like a bitter poison. About a quarter mile up the slope, a large indentation had been made in the mountain, with a trail of smoke running out of it. She ran up the hill to see what it was. "My ship!" She was ecstatic. She entered through the broken pane of glass and brought down as many medical supplies as she could and began to tend to him once again.

His temperature slowly began to go down, but was still in a state of emergency. "This is bad... at this rate, his temperature won't go down quickly enough to save him." Seeing that his tunic was already quite destroyed, she began to tear off strips of cloth to use as rags, soaking them in snow from the hillside. "He needs liquids more than anything right now. But this darn mask..." She began to roll his mask up until his mouth and nose were visible. She struggled for several minutes whether or not to proceed further, then quickly turned away.

She took some of the snow from the mountain and began to melt it down to pour into his mouth. His breathing periodically began returning to normal, but was still too sick to be moved around much. "We've got enough provisions to last us for about a month. Plenty of time for him to heal." She gently stroked his cheek. "But even so... I guess we'll be here a while."

**********

**Mario**

It was midnight. A wormhole opened up, and Mario fell face-first into a clean, back-alley street. He turned to his side, overcome with a severe feeling of nausea. "Ugh... not... a good... idea..." He scrambled over to a vacant and proceeded to vomit. "Does anyone else... feel like this? Or was it.... just me?" He fell back against the wall in total discomfort and exhaustion. No response. "Princess Peach...? Toadsworth..? Toad?" He looked around, peering across all the corners and under barrels. Still no sign of them. "Mama mia..." Mario muscled his way to his feet and decided to take a look around town.

In the Mushroom Kingdom, the night time was a sign to end your activities for today, as there is little light or sound anywhere. This city, whatever its name was, was clearly different. Everywhere he turned, bright neon signs illuminated the night sky, yet no one entered or left the buildings. "Hello?" Mario called out. No answer. "Peach? Toadsworth? Anyone?" He persisted, but still no reply.

The streets were spotless, with not an inch of litter or graffiti. He wound through building after building, but no one was there. He was completely isolated and alone. "Mama mia.... it's like a ghost town around here." He sighed, plopping himself down in a vacant cafe. He pushed up on the brim of his hat and took a casual glance around.

Across the street was a casino. He peered inside for a moment, then quickly jumped up. He thought he saw some movement inside, but he wasn't sure. "That had to have been movement; it's a casino. If there weren't any people inside a casino, then there wouldn't be anyone at all in this city". He walked across the street and stepped inside.

**********

**Link & Zelda  
Thirty minutes prior to impact**

The band of refugees from Hyrule made their way over the western hills of Hyrule. The sky was a pale green, as if underwater. As soon as they made their way to the top of the hill, they beheld their destination: a pristine lake surrounded by all manner of plant life with plenty of fruit trees. "I never thought we'd have to use this." Zelda sighed.

"Neither had I foreseen the use of this sacred place, but what other options have we?" Ezthra answered, with a question of his own. "The Three Goddesses blessed this ground, in case of just such an emergency. The Three together are more powerful than their brother, Reignlif, so their blessing should suffice for protection."

"I suppose so... Hey, wait-" She looked around. "Where's Link?!" She scoured the entire area, but saw no sign of him. "Ezthra, please help me! Ask some of the townsfolk if they've seen him!"

He proceeded to do so. He questioned as many of the people as fast as he could, particularly families with younger children. Soon, he came to a woman who was weeping on the ground, trying to be consoled by her husband. "What is the matter? Is everything alright?" He asked them.

"It is our daughter... we think she may have been lost along the way!" The husband told him.

"Has anyone talked to you?! Offered to run back to retrieve her?!"

"Yes... a young man clad in green with a sword on his back. He- he said he would bring her back to us. Please...! You have to help him!"

Ezthra agreed, and left in search of Zelda. He found her at the brink of the water, question another couple, who said that they had lost their son, and that a man in green had offered to bring him back. She departed from them, and met Ezthra midway, and they both shared their stories. Zelda looked up at the sky. Its color had shifted from pale green, to bright red. "Ezthra, quickly! We have to hurry! If they don't make it back inside, then-!"

"I will do everything in my power to help him, your highness, but I beg of you that you remain under the holy barrier and not step outside! If anything were to happen to you, then the entire people would lose their leader and their princess. There would be no one to lead them after this crisis is over."

"Out of the question! What kind of leader would I be if I cannot even put myself at risk to save a child?!" She turned around without another word and ran off into the surrounding woods to find Link and the two children.

"Your highness! YOUR HIGHNESS!" He called, trying to catch up to her. They came to the edge of the barrier. Zelda stepped outside and ran off. Ezthra followed. As they made their way to the edge of the woods, they saw Link carrying the children, one in each hand, walking calmly to meet the two of them. Suddenly, the ground began to quake and tremble. They turned back toward Hyrule castle, and saw an eruption of white light screaming towards them.

"Come on, come on! Let's go!" Link said, handing the small girl to Zelda. Ezthra and the little girl were the first to make it back, followed by Link with the young boy. Zelda came running up, but stopped suddenly.

"...My foot!" She cried. "It's stuck!" She said, desperately wrestling with the ground to loosen it.

"Zelda!" Link cried, rushing to her side to help, with Ezthra following closely behind. "It won't budge! We were too late..." Link's expression plummeted, and they were enveloped in a sea of white light.


	14. A Rite Of Passage

_A/N: Take two of this chapter. I wasn't pleased with the one version of this chapter, so it's been rewritten; hopefully, it will be closer to your reading standards, as well as my own standards as an author. I also apologize for sticking so closely to the beginning of the original Kingdom Hearts game, but I wanted to clearly define Mario's role in the story as being similar to Sora's: an incorruptible Hero of Light._

* * *

Mario slowly entered the casino, only to be greeted by the sound of running slot machines, yet not a soul was in sight. On the far left side of the room, various gambling tables could be seen, including card, craps, as well as roulette tables. Still, not a soul was present. _"Mamma mia... what sort of town would have an empty casino in it?"_ Mario wondered.

Mario weaved in and out of the various rows of machines and table, glancing back and forth for any sign of life. But no matter how much he looked, he still couldn't come across any sign of the town being inhabited.

Or so he thought, until he saw a shadow move quickly across the wall at the far end of the room. "Wait-!" He cried out as he quickly sprinted across the floor to where he saw the shadow, only to find the shadow had disappeared. Sighing heavily, he wandered back and forth for a few minutes. He then noticed a set of stairs in a small corner of the room leading downward. Peering down the stairway, he saw that it was rather dark, except for a dim, flickering light some ways down which illuminated the stairs enough for him to safely make his way down them. "Hello?" He shouted down the hallway, only to be greeted by repeating echoes of himself.

"Is anyone here?" Mario asked again as he slowly proceeded down the stairs, trying to peer further down the passage. He nearly slipped on a couple of the darker stairs, but he eventually made his way down the stairway to the dim, flickering light. To his surprise, the stairway led down to a long, marble hallway with several small torches that lit up the hallway. Mario walked down the long hallway for what seemed like hours, all the while the light slowly getting darker until he had to feel his way through the long passage.

As Mario walked, he felt a cool breeze blowing toward him; however, it was too dark to tell where it was coming from. He found his answer when a powerful draft suddenly rose from the floor. "Wah!" He yelled in surprise, when the floor suddenly broke beneath him, sending him plummeting down into darkness.

After free falling for what seemed like hours, Mario felt as though he were slowly sinking in water until his feet gently landed on solid ground. However, he didn't know what he had landed on, as it was still pitch black all around him. As he looked at where his feet were planted, the floor suddenly turned into a large flock of white birds which flew up and around him before flying off into the darkness in the distance. _"Where am I?"_ He wondered.

As Mario slowly opened his eyes, he saw that the room and floor were now illuminated. He was in a large, open area. The sky and surroundings were a very dark shade of gray, with an ominous mist hanging in the distance all around him. He looked down to see that he was standing on a large stained-glass image. It was too large for him to clearly make out from where he was standing, but from what he could tell, it was an image of three people. On the left was an image of a young man with long white hair looking downward; he wore a blue & red mask, and carried a large sword whose blade was weaved between itself. On the right was an image of a young woman with long green hair looking upward and standing back-to-back with the man. She was dressed in a regal, white battle dress with a small number of armaments attached on the shoulder and chest, with an elaborate gold embroidery, and a sheer cape elegantly flowing behind her. In-between the two of them was another young woman wearing plain white form-fitting sleeveless top & pants, and a black cloak with her head lowered, as if in grief. Her face was obscured the shadow of the hood, but long blond hair could be seen coming out from the hood. _"Peach?"_ He wondered as he leaned in to examine the blond-haired woman more closely. _"No... not Peach. Someone else... but who?"_

_The Door is shut._

"Who's there?" Mario called out.

_So much to do, so little time... Take your time. Don't be afraid. The Door is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it?_

Mario cautiously began moving toward the center of the platform. As he walked, he saw three pedestal appear around the outside of the platform. Moving closer, he saw a shield on the left, a wand on the right, and a sword in the middle, each floating over a pedestal.

_If you give it form... it will give you strength. Choose well._

"..." Mario carefully walked to the left before putting the shield on his arm.

_The power of the Guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?_

"...Yes!" Mario yelled out. The shield suddenly disappeared from Mario's arm.

_Now... what will you give up in exchange?_

_"Exchange?" _Mario thought carefully for a few moments before proceeding to the center stone containing the sword. Slowly, he leaned in and grabbed the handle.

_The power of the Warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. You give up this power?_

"...Yes." Mario said hesitantly. The sword suddenly disappeared from Mario's hand.

_You chosen the power of the Guardian. You've give up the power of the Warrior. Is this the form you choose?_

"Yes." He nodded.

_Your path is set._

The pedestals slowly vanished as the floor suddenly shattered, sending Mario falling down to another circular platform, this time bearing the image of a man dressed from head-to-toe in black, his hands drenched in blood. _"He's wearing the same cloak as the woman in the last image..."_ He noticed as he casually landed on the platform. As his feet touched the ground, the shield from earlier suddenly appeared on his right arm. "Wah!" He yelled in surprise.

_You gained the power to fight._

"..." Mario then secured the shield to his arm before he used it to practice charging at enemies with it.

_You've got it! Use this power to protect yourself and others._

As this voice was speaking, small black shadows began rising from the ground. "-!" Mario quickly began backing up, keeping the shield in front of him. At first, the shadows appeared as nothing more than black, shapeless blobs that glided across the surface. As time went on, the small blobs slowly took form, taking the shape of small creatures that crawled along the ground like insects.

"..." As Mario watched the small creatures creep closer and closer to him, he gripped the handle of the shield on his arm before he began striking at them with the shield. A single hit was all it took to destroy one of the creatures, so they were quickly dispatched.

_There will be times when you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong._

Soon, more shadows emerged from the ground which continued to surround and enclose Mario. "Heh!" Mario grinned as he destroyed them all in a similar manner.

_Behind you!_

"-?" Mario quickly turned around when he felt a strong pressure strike against the shield. "Nng!" He grunted as the force sent him reeling backwards. He quickly stood back up to see a another black creature walking toward him, though this one was noticeably different. It was larger than the previous enemies, stood upright on two legs, and wore a small helmet on its head. _"This one's different from the others..."_ Mario noted, making sure to be more cautious against this new opponent. Charging headlong at the shadowy creature, he quickly disposed of it like the previous enemies, though it took a few more strikes than before. As the shadow exploded into tiny particles, more pools of black liquid appeared around him.

_The day is both far off and very near._

"_What's with this... they just keep coming!"_ Mario realized as he masterfully disposed of enemy after enemy. But as the enemies flowed into and out of existence, it was becoming increasingly apparent that the more opponents he defeated, the more opponents appeared and the stronger they became until he was fighting behemoths in size, strength, as well as ferocity.

_The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes. But don't be afraid, and don't forget..._

"_Mamma mia... I've hit my limit..."_ Mario thought, falling to one knee and gasping for air, watching helplessly as the monstrosities surrounded him. _"-!"_ He closed his eyes in defeat, preparing himself for an inevitable death.

_You hold the mightiest weapon of all._

"-!" Mario looked up to see the creatures had ceased all movement. "...What?" He asked in disbelief.

_So don't forget..._

"..." As the voice was speaking, the behemoths began melting into the pools of black liquid from which they first emerged, enveloping Mario to the point where he felt as though he was drowning. _"Can't breathe-! Can't even more-!"_ His mind began racing as he felt himself being overwhelmed by the molasses-like liquid until he eventually passed out.

_You are the one who will..._

After what seemed like an eternity, Mario felt himself strike something hard. "...Ow... what...?" He said aloud, bringing his hand to comfort his throbbing head, trying to assure himself that this wasn't a dream. "..." He slowly opened his eyes to find himself lying on a hardwood floor staring at a low ceiling next to a small table that had a dim candle burning on it, slightly illuminating the room. "...Where am I...?"

"The World That Never Was." A voice quickly answered.

"-!" Mario quickly sat up to see a figure sitting on a wooden chair in one of the dark corners of the room. "-Ow!" The sudden rise made quickly gave him another headache, forcing him to lie back down.

"At least, that's what it was called 10 years ago, when we first stumbled onto it." He laughed, rising from the chair.

"Who are you?" Mario asked.

"Come on, Bro! I know we having seen each other for a while, but you should at least remember your own Brother!" He laughed, walking into the light where he was fully illuminated by the candle.

Mario's eyes widened. "...Luigi...?"


End file.
